The chancellor The remarkable odyssey of Angela Merkel

Kati Marton

Book - 2021

"The definitive biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, detailing the remarkable rise and political brilliance of the most powerful--and elusive--woman in the world. The Chancellor is at once a riveting political biography and an intimate human story of a complete outsider--a research chemist and pastor's daughter raised in Soviet-controlled East Germany--who rose to become the unofficial leader of the West. Acclaimed biographer Kati Marton set out to pierce the mystery of how Angela Merkel achieved all this. And she found the answer in Merkel's political genius: in her willingness to talk with adversaries rather than over them, her skill at negotiating without ever compromising on what's most important to her, her... canniness in appointing political rivals to her cabinet and exacting their policies so they have no platform to run against her, the humility to allow others to take credit for things done in tandem, the wisdom to stay out of the papers and off Twitter, and the vision to take advantage of crises to enact bold change. Famously private, the Angela Merkel who emerges in The Chancellor is a role model for anyone interested in gaining and keeping power while holding onto one's moral convictions--and for anyone looking to understand how to successfully bridge huge divisions within society. No modern leader has so ably confronted Russian aggression, provided homes to over a million refugees, and calmly unified Europe at a time when other countries are becoming more divided. But Marton also describes Merkel's many challenges, such as her complicated relationship with President Obama, who she at one point refused to speak to. This captivating portrait shows a woman who has survived extraordinary challenges to transform her own country and return it to the global stage. Timely and revelatory, this great morality tale shows the difference an exceptional leader can make for the greater good of a country and the world"--

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Subjects
Genres
Biographies
Published
New York, NY : Simon & Schuster 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Kati Marton (author)
Edition
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition
Physical Description
xviii, 344 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits (some color) ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-331) and index.
ISBN
9781501192623
  • Prologue: The Pastor's Daughter
  • 1. Against the Tide
  • 2. Leipzig: On Her Own
  • 3. Berlin
  • 4. 1989
  • 5. The Apprentice
  • 6. To the Chancellery at Last
  • 7. Her First American President
  • 8. Dictators
  • 9. The Private Chancellor
  • 10. Limited Partners
  • 11. Europe is Speaking German Now
  • 12. The War in Ukraine: "Get me Angela on the Phone"
  • 13. The Summer of Reem
  • 14. The Worst of Times
  • 15. Enter Trump
  • 16. "Something Has Changed in Our Country..."
  • 17. A Partner at Last?
  • 18. Toward the End.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Journalist Marton (True Believer) largely succeeds in this meticulous and even-handed biography at her stated goal of creating "a human rather than a political portrait" of German chancellor Angela Merkel. Marton ascribes Merkel's "supreme public reticence" to her youth as a Lutheran pastor's daughter in "atheist East Germany," where her career as a physicist was "a safe outlet for her inquiring mind." After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Merkel made a swift ascent through the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to become "the most prominent East German" in Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Cabinet. When Kohl was tainted by a financial scandal in 1998, Merkel was one of the first members of the CDU to publicly denounce him, and assumed leadership of the party in 2000. Marton credits Merkel with being a "forceful listener" who is "hungry to understand how things work and what motivates people," but also notes that her "sluggish" and "methodical" response prolonged the 2008 financial crisis. Incisive analyses of Merkel's relationships with other world leaders, including Vladimir Putin, shed light on her geopolitical views and tactics, though her private motivations remain somewhat mysterious. Still, this is a lucid and accessible introduction to "the most powerful woman in the world." Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM Partners. (Oct.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Biographer Marton (True Believer: Stalin's Last American Spy) looks at the life and career of the famously private German chancellor Angela Merkel. Raised in authoritarian East Germany, Merkel studied as a physicist before turning to politics. Marton argues that Merkel's training as a scientist, as well as her devout Lutheran faith, have greatly contributed to the steady, precise nature that has marked her success as a politician. The majority of the biography is focused on Merkel's political career as Marton evaluates her strengths and limitations as a politician. The author effectively tells how Merkel is often acutely reminded of Germany's past and strives to ensure that Germany is a moral leader, resists authoritarianism, and remains a part of the European Union and a key member of the global community. The major events of Merkel's chancellorship are explored, particularly Russia's takeover of Crimea, the Syrian refugee crisis, the 2008 financial collapse and subsequent destabilization of the European Union, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Marton looks at Merkel's relationships with prominent world leaders such as Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, Emmanuel Macron, and Donald Trump. VERDICT A fascinating look at a highly influential leader. Recommended for readers interested in world politics.--Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A glowing biography of the famously cautious yet effective chancellor of Germany. Marton, A Hungarian-born American foreign correspondent, clearly admires Angela Merkel (b. 1954), who has served as chancellor since 2005 and was hailed in a 2020 Pew Research poll as "the world's most trusted leader, regardless of gender." The author marvels especially at Merkel's early years in East Germany, where her pastor father joined the call to serve the socialist East by moving his family from Hamburg to the rural hamlet of Templin, in the heart of the Soviet-occupied Democratic Republic of Germany. Indoctrinated in school, sealed off from the West by border walls in 1961, and spied on by her neighbors for the state security police, Merkel toed the line and kept a low profile while excelling at physics, first in Leipzig and then in East Berlin. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, she embraced a new profession: politics. When the East German DA party merged with the West German CDU, she became the mentee of the powerful Helmut Kohl. Working her way steadily up the ranks, Merkel ultimately assumed leadership of her party after Kohl left office. Unglamorous by choice, workmanlike to a fault, and used to sidestepping male egos, Merkel proved herself to be a deft civil servant and leader, especially in opening Germany's borders to refugees in 2015 despite the backlash. "Her political rise," writes Marton, "would be fueled by self-control, strategic thinking, and, when necessary, passive aggression." Merkel's determination to bolster Europe's cohesion with French president Emmanuel Macron's help and to strengthen ties between Europe and the U.S., despite opposition and/or apathy from the Trump administration, form her lasting legacy. 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. A human portrait more than a political one that amply captures the essence of a moral, determined leader. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.