A two-volume history of West Germany from 1945 to the present. The work is based on research of primary and secondary documentary material, newspaper and journal archives, state archives and interviews with a range of persons including politicians and industrialists.

Volume1.From shadow to substance, 1945-1963. The beginning and the end -- Reconstruction and division -- The establishment of the Federal Republic, 1949-1955 -- Consolidation and division, 1955-1961 -- The end of the Adenauer Era, 1961-1963 -- Volume 2. Democracy and its discontents, 1963-1988. Erhard as Chancellor, 1963-1966 -- The grand coalition, 1966-1969 -- The fourth Chancellor of Germany, Willy Brandt, 1969-1974 -- The era of the "Macher," 1974-1982 -- The pillar of Central Europe.