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The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel
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88/99
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About This Book
The "captivating" ( The New York Times ), definitive biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, detailing the extraordinary rise and political brilliance of the most powerful—and elusive—woman in the world. Angela Merkel has always been an outsider. A pastor's daughter raised in Soviet-controlled East Germany, she spent her twenties working as a research chemist, entering politics only after the fall of the Berlin Wall. And yet within fifteen years, she had become chancellor of Germany and, before long, the unofficial leader of the West. In this "masterpiece of discernment and insight" ( The New York Times Book Review ), acclaimed biographer Kati Marton sets out to pierce the mystery of Merkel's unlikely ascent. With unparalleled access to the chancellor's inner circle and a trove of records only recently come to light, she teases out the unique political genius that had been the secret to Merkel's success. No modern leader so ably confronted Russian aggression, enacted daring social policies, and calmly unified an entire continent in an era when countries are becoming more divided. Again and again, she cleverly outmaneuvered strongmen like Putin and Trump, and weathered surprisingly complicated relationships with allies like Obama and Macron. Famously private, the woman who emerges from this "impressively researched" ( The Wall Street Journal ) account is a role model for anyone interested in gaining and keeping power while staying true to one's moral convictions. At once a "riveting" ( Los Angeles Review of Books ) political biography, an intimate human portrait, and a revelatory look at successful leadership in action, The Chancellor brings forth one of the most extraordinary women of our time.
Reviews
"It is a riveting story, adroitly told, full of engrossing anecdotes and rich details, derived not from conversations with Merkel herself but pieced together from published sources as well as discussions with friends and others in her orbit."
"A fluent writer, Marton seeks to unravel the Merkel mystery by penetrating the cordon sanitaire that she has erected around her personal life ..."
"Though the text is somewhat short on criticism, Marton clearly knows her subject and writes smoothly, pulling back the curtain on an enigmatic, significant world figure ..."
"At times, there is a slightly comical sense that the qualities Merkel's biographer finds most intriguing are also those that most elude her: Marton, who also grew up east of the Iron Curtain and went on to become an ABC News foreign correspondent and marry the influential late US diplomat Richard Holbrooke, cannot help but slide her own story into the footnotes."
"This is exactly what keeps the pages turning ..."
"The Chancellor, a biography published with much fanfare by the Hungarian-American journalist Kati Marton, is manifestly not that book ..."
"an impressively researched but, in many respects, devotional work—the reflection of a worshipful establishment consensus that will eventually seem absurd ..."
"The personal side of that journey is knit from a thousand threads of details revealed over the years."
"Merkel didn't talk to Marton for this book."
"Still, this is a lucid and accessible introduction to 'the most powerful woman in the world.'"
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