Freedom, the political memoirs of Angela Merkel, to be released in November
Pan Macmillan will publish the eagerly awaited memoirs of Angela Merkel, Freedom: Memories 1954 – 2021, on 26 November 2024.
For sixteen years, Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany. She led the country through numerous crises, shaping both Germany and international politics with her actions and attitudes. In her memoirs, co-written with her long-time political advisor Beate Baumann, she reflects on her life in two German states – thirty-five years in the German Democratic Republic, thirty-five years in reunited Germany.
More intimately than ever before, she talks about her childhood, youth, and studies in the GDR and the dramatic year of 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell and her political life began. She also shares recollections and insights from her meetings and conversations with the world's most powerful people. Discussing significant national, European, and international turning points, she shows how the decisions were made that shaped our times. Her book offers a unique insight into the inner workings of power – and is a compelling plea for freedom.
‘What does freedom mean to me? This question has occupied me my entire life. Of course, politically, because freedom needs democratic conditions; without democracy, there is no freedom, no rule of law, no protection of human rights. But this question also occupies me on another level. Freedom, for me, is finding out where my own limits are and pushing myself to those limits. Freedom, for me, is to never stop learning, to never stand still, to continue moving forward, even after leaving politics.’
Angela Merkel
‘Angela Merkel is one of the most respected and important figures in recent world history. We are hugely honoured to be publishing her memoirs, alongside our colleagues in Germany and the United States. In a time of increasing global tension and uncertainty, FREEDOM is both much needed and much anticipated.’
Mike Harpley, Publishing Director, Pan Macmillan
Freedom: Memories 1954 – 2021
by Angela Merkel
The much-anticipated political memoirs of Angela Merkel, the former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2005 to 2021.