Shortlisted for International Affairs Book of the Year in the Paddy
Power Political Book Awards 2014
Angela Merkel was already unique when she became German chancellor: the
first female leader of Europe's biggest economy, the first from former
communist East Germany and the first born after World War II. Since
2010, the debt crisis that spread from Greece to the euro region and the
world economy has propelled her to center-stage, making Merkel the
dominant politician in the struggle to preserve Europe's economic model
and its single currency. Yet the Protestant pastor's daughter is often
viewed as enigmatic and hard-to-predict, a misreading that took hold as
she resisted global pressure for grand gestures to counter the crisis.
Having turned the fall of the Berlin Wall to her advantage, Merkel is
trying to get history on her side again after reaching the fundamental
decision to save the euro, the crowning achievement of post-war European
unity. Merkel has brought Europe to a crossroads. Germany's economic
might gives her unprecedented power to set the direction for the
European Union's 500 million people. What's at stake is whether she will
persuade them to follow the German lead.
Angela Merkel: A Chancellorship Forged in Crisis is the definitive new
biography of the world's most powerful woman. Delving into Merkel's
past, the authors explain the motives behind her drive to remake Europe
for the age of globalization, her economic role models and the
experiences under communism that color her decisions. For the first time
in English, Merkel is fully placed in her European context. Through
exclusive interviews with leading policy makers and Merkel confidants,
the book reveals the behind-the-scenes drama of the crisis that came to
dominate her chancellorship, her prickly relationship with the U.S. and
admiration for Eastern Europe. Written by two long-standing Merkel
watchers, the book documents how her decisions and vision - both works
in progress - are shaping a pivotal moment in European history.
