[American Purpose] Do the Germans Really “Do it Better”?

In his new book, a British transplant to Germany can find no fault with his adopted country. He need simply ask another European or two.

Why the Germans Do it Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country. By John Kampfner. Atlantic Books; 320 pages; £30.59.

The prosaic walk-into-a-bar joke template poking fun at national idiosyncrasies is popular among most Europeans, with one exception. Germans, steeped in an ethos of moral repentance, are typically self-effacing about what their homeland has contributed to the West. But for the value-neutral realms of car-making, liberal rationalism, and technocracy, they remain loath to put themselves forth as an example for others — particularly their European neighbors.

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