'A splendid book by authors who long ago detected Germany's fragility - and aimed at readers
who take no pleasure in the sight of its precipitous decline' Yanis Varoufakis 'The best
polemic yet ... the authors prosecute their case with vigour and a terrific eye for detail'
Oliver Moody The Times Book of the Week The compelling story of Germany's decline - where it
all went wrong and how it could bounce back. For many years the post-war recovery of Germany
was an inspirational story . All of Europe looked on with admiration and envy as the nation
rebuilt and set standards for the rest to follow. Companies such as Mercedes-Benz Siemens and
Bayer rose to become global titans while the country's political leaders earned respect around
the world - even their football teams were the best. Such was its success that when the Berlin
Wall fell it appeared to reunify almost seamlessly. Where Germany led the rest followed .
But even at its zenith there were signs of trouble with a worrying lack of national identity
at its heart. So when events started to turn against Germany the whole edifice began to
crumble. As political and business leaders benefited from the status quo they couldn't see the
problems heading their way. Volkswagen's emissions fraud tainted its industrial reputation
abandoning nuclear power left the country at the mercy of Russia for its energy needs and a
growing divide between rich and poor stoked international tensions that opened the door to the
rise of the far-right AfD party . Journalists Chris Reiter and Will Wilkes have been
reporting for years on the problems the country faces. Germany is not alone in this but it is
singularly ill-equipped to deal with them. Broken Republik is an essential read for anyone who
wants to understand Germany's slide towards the brink.
