With 79 million people, the German Federal Republic today is the most populous country in Europe, with awesome economic power and a dominant political position in the European community. Yet how well do we know this powerful nation? This highly readable and lucid exploration of Germany past and present seeks to illuminate the question of German identity through various lenses - social, historical, geographical, cultural, economical, and political.

First and foremost is a penetrating analysis of the recent right-wing and neo-Nazi movement in Germany.

Written after dozens of interviews with leading Germans for the acclaimed TV series The Germans, this book is fortified by the words of Germans from all backgrounds - from a Bundeswehr conscript to the president of the Bundesbank, from the head of Europe's largest industrial trust Mercedes/Daimler-Benz to the late chancellor Willy Brandt.

For anyone who wants to know more about the new united Germany and who seeks an understanding of the role Germany will play in Europe of the future, this book is essential reading.