The Chancellor by Kati Marton

Regardless of how you feel about her politics, Angela Merkel is a remarkable woman. Her marathon tenure as Germany’s leader has officially crossed the finish line, but her final lap of honor will take some time. There are quantifiable historic firsts: 16 years in office make her the joint longest-serving chancellor of the postwar era and she’s the first German chancellor to have the wisdom to step down of her own will, at the end of a full term. he’s the first female German head of government, the first with a scientist’s training, and the first to have grown up in a socialist command economy. She may go down in history as a once-in-a-century political adaptor, connecting two differently hardwired systems kept apart by the Berlin Wall. Yet it’s also possible that Merkel may not be remembered as a pioneer, but as the last example of an idea that feels increasingly old-fashioned in an age where more and more political tribes are built around personal identity: leadership as an exercise in ego suppression, holding high office as tantamount to covering the very traits that make you unique. I was in awe of her by the end of the book, and hope that we see many more like her, though that seems hopelessly optimistic at this very moment.