We need to know about Germany. While we are in the EU, it is the main bankroller of the project, and all dance to its tune. When we are out of it, Germany will remain the most significant country in Continental Europe in terms of population and economy, and an understanding of it will be essential to our success in the new order. I came to this book imagining it might help me to grasp that country, its people and above all its motive forces. I was wrong.

Giles MacDonogh has written several books on aspects of German history; he has worked as a journalist there; he has visited the country frequently; he speaks the language; he knows his fair share of luminaries. Yet if this has given him any stunning insights into Germany, he has for