Few world leaders have left office as lauded as Angela Merkel. When she stepped down as chancellor in 2021, after 16 years, Germany’s economy was the envy of Europe. Mrs Merkel had saved the euro and guided her nation through the pandemic.

Angela Merkel has set out to secure her reputation in a 700-page memoir in which the former German chancellor defends her 16 years in office. Critics increasingly believe that her leadership led Germany to chronic underinvestment, an underfunded military, and the growth of the far right.

Towards the end of her 16-year tenure, former German chancellor Angela Merkel was garlanded with superlative titles: the “queen of Europe”, the “most powerful woman in the world”, the “leader of the free world”.