This book, a companion volume to the PBS television documentary of the same name, is an in-depth look at how unification
has affected Germany's people. The bilingual book includes
interviews with German families and commentary by
leading public officials, including an exclusive interview with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The editor is a research fellow at AEI. A summary of the book and excerpts from key interviews follow.
No Western country has felt more immediately the impact of the end of the cold war than Germany. For forty years Germany was divided between East and West, and the border between them was the focus of a nuclear standoff. Today Germany stands at the center of a new and changing Europe. In the West, it has become the most influential member of the European Union. In the East, it is the biggest investor in, contributor of aid to, and a leading trading partner with the former Soviet bloc.