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Title: Kanzler. Die Mächtigen der Republik. by Guido Knopp, Alexander Berkel, Stefan Brauburger, Christian Deick ISBN: 3-442-15067-1 Publisher: Goldmann Pub. Date: 01 December, 2000 Format: Paperback

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: More than a TV companion, less than a sound history text
Comment: There are not that many books which give a brief yet comprehensive overview on post-war (West-) Germany's seven chancellors (head of government): Adenauer, Ehrhardt, Kiesinger, Brandt, Schmidt and Kohl (the present chancellor Schroeder had not been included yet, since he is still in office). Knopp's book certainly falls into that category. Guido Knopp is first and foremost a TV journalist, who has produced quite a few well-received TV series, focussing on Germany's more recent (20th century) history. So it is not surprisung that the book keeps up certain elements you would find in a TV documentation. In the first place, this is reflected by those seven chapters which are hardly linked and hardly ever refer to each other. Some might find this disturbing and not very historically sound. This also leads to the sometimes irritating fact that certain facts are being restated. This of course can be turned into an advantage: It is possible to read the various chapters as biographies of the respectve chancellors in their own right, without the need to read through all of them. The structure of each chapter is quite consistent, starting always with a compilation of quotes by contemporaries about the chancellor to be described. There is not much picture material used, which is actually unusual about a book based on a TV documentary - but this is good, since a lot of comparable books easily turn into picture books, where written text appears only as page fillers.

The content itself: Adenauer, the chancellor of West-Germany's restoration is thoroughly covered, with all his scheming and plotting well described. Again, there are no new facts unearthed, but this is certainly not the goal of this book. The next chapters deal with Ehrhardt, Kiesinger and Brandt, and very nicely describe the transformation of the stuffy and prude Adenauer Germany into a more modern society. Ehrhardt's weakness and lack of luck is pounded on, as is Kiesinger's ineffectiveness to preside over Germany's to-date first and only Grand Coalitions between Conservatives and Social Democrats. A more merciful and positive biography is offered for Willy Brandt, who (due to his role as an actively fighting emigrant during the Third Reich ) was as controversial a political figure inside Germany, as he was revered outside of it. The chapter about Helmut Schmidt does not do him justice - Knopp repeats here the the picture often used to describe him: a cool, sober "maker" of politics, an elder statesman abroad even when still in office, manager of the terrorist crisis in Germany's "hot autumn" 1977, but out-of touch with the youth and the peace movement. Knopp certainly could have done better. This is also true for the chapter featuring Helmut Kohl, the "Chancellor of Unification". Sure, Germany's reunification was in hindsight a boldly executed, if improvised enterprise. However, this part dominates the whole chapter, and neglects the shortcomings of his 16-year chancellorship, especially between 1982 and 1987 and during his last two terms. This is what brings the rating down.