The Chancellor

The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel

Kati Marton

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781501192630
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501192647
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

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 in history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Prologue: The Pastor’s Daughter
• Chapter 1: Against the Tide
• Chapter 2: Leipzig—On Her Own
• Chapter 3: Berlin
• Chapter 4: 1989
• Chapter 5: The Apprentice
• Chapter 6: To the Chancellery at Last
• Chapter 7: Her First American President
• Chapter 8: Dictators
• Chapter 9: The Private Chancellor
• Chapter 10: Limited Partners
• Chapter 11: Europe is Speaking German Now
• Chapter 12: The War in Ukraine—“Get me Angela on the Phone”
• Chapter 13: The Summer of Reem
• Chapter 14: The Worst of Times
• Chapter 15: Enter Trump
• Chapter 16: “Something has Changed in our Country …”
• Chapter 17: A Partner at Last?
• Chapter 18: Toward the End
• Epilogue
• Photographs
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Image Credits
• Copyright