"How far have the Germans distanced themselves from their history? The word 'fatherland' no longer crosses anyone's lips today. Not only because it was perverted and stained with blood during the Nazi era, but also because it is assigned to a world that no longer exists for us." (Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, publicist)

Gerd Wange gets to the bottom of these and other questions about Germany, Germans and Germanness, starting with Wilhelm II's empire, continuing through the Weimar Republic, the Roaring Twenties, Hitler's dictatorship, the GDR, neo-Nazism, and ending with the technical achievements of today - passionately, critically, excellently researched, and scientifically well-founded, with numerous quotations from well-known authors and publications.