Freedom

The New York Times and USA Today bestseller

For sixteen years, Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany and at the forefront of European and international politics. In her memoir, she looks back on her life in two German states—East Germany until 1990, and reunified Germany thereafter. How did she, coming from the East, rise to the top of the Christian Democratic Union to become the first woman to hold the office of chancellor? And how did she then become one of the most powerful heads of government in the Western world? What guided her?

In Freedom, Angela Merkel recounts daily life in the chancellor’s office as well as the dramatic days and nights when she made far-reaching decisions in Berlin, Brussels, and beyond. She traces the long lines of change in international cooperation and reveals the pressure politicians face when seeking solutions to complex problems in a globalized world. Here, she takes us behind the scenes of international politics, demonstrating both the importance of personal conversations and, crucially, their limits.

Reflecting on politics in a time of increasing confrontation and division, Angela Merkel’s memoir offers a unique insight into the inner workings of power—and is a determined and timely plea for freedom.

Author Biography

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2005 to 2021, was the first woman to hold the country’s most powerful office. Born in Hamburg in 1954 and raised in the GDR, where she studied physics and earned a Ph.D., she was elected to the German Bundestag in 1990. From 1991 to 1994, she served as Federal Minister for Women and Youth, from 1994 to 1998 as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety, and from 2000 to 2018 as the leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. She ended her active political career in 2021.