A country both admired and feared, Germany has been the epicenter of world events time and again: the Reformation, both World Wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall. It did not emerge as a modern nation until 1871--yet today, Germany is the world's fourth-largest economy and a standard-bearer of liberal democracy.

"There's no point studying the past unless it sheds some light on the present," writes James Hawes in this brilliantly concise history that has already captivated hundreds of thousands of readers. "It is time, now more than ever, for us all to understand the real history of Germany."