Alan Crawford (1)

Once you come to terms with the fact that this is NOT a biography, this becomes a very good book - and one that all those Brits who feel that we should jettison Europe and cling to our "special relationship" with the USA, should read.

The book tells the story of Angela Merkel's handling of the Euro crisis. It is told by two American journalists, who clearly know their stuff and the book is useful both for information of which I was not aware from news coverage and also by providing an show more overview and a time-line of events. The tale is told from a German, and particularly Merkel, perspective but is not simply a fan club product: Merkel is criticised for her errors, as well as being praised for her successes.

The reason that I say that British Euro sceptics should read this is because, without openly saying so, it becomes very obvious that Britain's intransigence is sidelining the British Isles, not just from the European future, but making us less significant on a World stage. Sadly, we have too many people who seem to think that we are still the head of a major empire. This book does not set out to gainsay this; it does so by the little that Britain is mentioned and the image of a country and a prime minister who is out of sync with the prevailing mood.

My only niggle with this book, is that, for reasons bast known by the writers, this pretends to be a biography of Angela Merkel. Alongside a well researched history of the Euro crisis, to date, they appear to have googled Merkel's youth and added a couple of pages of muddled early life. Now that you are aware of this curious flaw, you are in a position to thoroughly enjoy a very good book. show less