What I am reading now

Dates -  28th December - 12 Jan 2019

Book Number of 2019 - 2 of 52

Synposis -

When Jason Smart decides he wants to visit Western Europe, the main obstacle in his path is the number of countries it contains. From Scandinavia in the north to the sweltering Mediterranean nations of the south, Western Europe contains over twenty different nations, and so he realises that the only way to see as many of them as possible is to hop, skip and jump between them. One day here, a couple of days there: rapid fire stays in one city after another. Along the way, Smart battles with a nun in the Vatican, gets lost in a tunnel in Luxembourg, is almost run over by a tram in Lisbon and meets Jesus in a hotel in Madrid. He witnesses the wealth of Monaco, the mountainous beauty of Liechtenstein, the neon of Amsterdam’s red light district and the place witches once gathered in Stockholm. Rapid Fire Europe is a travelogue through twenty-two of the most beautiful cities in Western Europe.

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My thoughts

Jason Smart’s writing is more functional that poetic. However he does give a sense of the places he is visiting without having a classic turn of phrase at his disposal. Saying that this is still an enjoyable enough book 

Dates -  2nd Jan - 5th Jan 2019

Book Number of 2019 - 1 of 52

Synposis -

Let Her Fly traces the inspirational journey of Malala Yousafzai's father, Ziauddin, from a boy in Shangla to a man who broke with tradition and proves there are many faces of feminism.

With humor and sincerity, Yousafzai describes his life before the Talibanization of Mingora, scenes of his sons Khusal and Atal fighting kites on the roof, his progressive partnership with his wife Toor Pekai, and the challenge of raising children in an unfamiliar country. After Malala was shot by the Taliban, the Yousafzai family was completely uprooted from their home in the Swat Valley and forced to start over in the United Kingdom. Now, Ziauddin expresses the complex pain and joy of his return, six years later, to the site of Malala's attack.

Let Her Fly is an intimate family portrait by the father of one of the most remarkable leaders in the world today. Ziauddin and Toor Pakai have set a singular example for parents who hope to empower their children to make a difference. Let Her Fly will resonate with anyone who has ever cared for a child, as Ziauddin Yousafzai shares what he's learned from his children, and what he hopes to teach the world.

My thoughts

One of my favourite quotes is Isaac Newton’s “ If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”. In time Ziauddin Yousafzai in what he has done for his own family and what he has done for his community via his school will be seen as a giant who has lifted up so many individuals.

In this book it would have been easy to be trimuphalist, yet here is a sense of introspection and reflection, dealing with where he had failed as a parent, the complex relationships with his parents, the opportunities that were deny to his sisters, the violence that he saw in his community and his struggle with his stammering. 

The key takeaway I took from this book was the strength of character of Ziauddin Yousafzai and how far he has come as an individual both geographically and intellectually. 

This short book is a reminder as to what brave and committed individuals can do if they put their minds to changing the world. 

My reading during 2018 was extremely sporadic. I would go weeks without picking up a book and then spend a few days constantly reading. 

Dates -  9th  December

Book Number of 2017 - 53 of 65

Synposis -

An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom. As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal totalitarian regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and to realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told “the best on the planet”? Aged seventeen, she decided to escape North Korea. She could not have imagined that it would be twelve years before she was reunited with her family. She could not return, since rumours of her escape were spreading, and she and her family could incur the punishments of the government authorities – involving imprisonment, torture, and possible public execution. Hyeonseo instead remained in China and rapidly learned Chinese in an effort to adapt and survive. Twelve years and two lifetimes later, she would return to the North Korean border in a daring mission to spirit her mother and brother to South Korea, on one of the most arduous, costly and dangerous journeys imaginable. This is the unique story not only of Hyeonseo’s escape from the darkness into the light, but also of her coming of age, education and the resolve she found to rebuild her life – not once, but twice – first in China, then in South Korea. Strong, brave and eloquent, this memoir is a triumph of her remarkable spirit.

My thoughts

Hyeonseo Lee has lived an extraordinary life. Born in North Korea, escaping and then going back to get her brother and mother, as well as building herself a new life in the South Korea. This book is a testament to that extraordinary life. It is also one of the few books that made by gasp out loud at the end of several chapters were the story was left on a cliff hanger. Such was the power of the tale that it forced me to take a purposeful gulp of air, regain a little of my composure before moving on. 

It was so extraordinary in places that you could not make it up and if you tried to people would think that you had been smoking the waccy baccy for several housrs before writing. Y

Overall I took away from this book, that this was a story of hope, that even in what were the most difficult of circumstances, there was often a way through, and whilst there were characters who were unhelpful and also evil, there are many people who helped Hyeonseo through her journey, from the stranger in Laos to her own family in China. 

Dates -  2nd December

Book Number of 2017 - 52 of 65

Synposis -

Danny Baker's third volume of memoirs barrels along at the same cracking pace as its predecessors, the bestselling Going to Sea in a Sieve (the inspiration for the major TV series Cradle to Grave and subsequent nationwide tour) and Going off Alarming. With his trademark exuberance, he recalls the years which included six years' involvement in the massive TV hit TFI Friday ('piling it up with hellzapoppin' ideas') - during which time he stalked John Cleese in New York, entertained David Bowie and Paul McCartney, bizarrely reunites with Sir Michael Caine, gets befriended by Peter O'Toole and becomes a member of Led Zeppelin for 35 minutes. 

However, the tales are not reliant on celebrity alone, and the book comes packed with the usual quota of Baker family jewels, including Spud's attitude to doctors, Danny's trip to Amsterdam to get stoned for the first time (he fails), getting caught up in football rioting, and the now infamous 'kaboom' of an outburst following his despatch from BBC London. And then there's the cancer. Spoiler alert: this is the one in which he almost dies. Further spoiler alert: he doesn't.

Going on the Turn is a rollicking read that fizzes with wit, warmth and enviable joie de vivre.

My thoughts

You can never judge a book by its cover, but the photograph of the front of this cover with Danny Baker standing with his legs apart and grinning from ear to ear gives you a little flavour of what is coming, as does his two earlier installments of his autobiography. 

Given that this book covers the story of how he battled cancer the first thought would that it would be more melancholy in tone, but it is not. Instead, there are show biz anecdotes a plenty, and stories of his family life and particular about his father. 

Yet when it does come to the section on the cancer treatment, which is dealt with in a charming way, the closest I sensed that we were getting to a level of introspection was when he was bemoaning how fat he had gotten pre cancer.

Overall this is an excellent light and engaging read, a showbiz auto biography par excellent. HOwever it is worth reading the first two volumes first.

Dates -  2nd December

Book Number of 2017 - 51 of 65

Synposis -

‘In that split second, perhaps the first sobering thoughts I have had in months become so obvious and apparent, and when that officer returns after having checked the cans and found cocaine I know that, from that moment, everything is going to change.’

‘Crazy’ Chris Lewis played in thirty-two Test Matches and fifty-three One-Day Internationals for England. At one point he was regarded as one of the best all-round cricketers the country has ever produced. However, feeling at odds with the middle-class nature of the sport, he regularly courted controversy off the field – and the tabloids happily lapped it up. His naming of England players involved in a match-fixing scandal led to his early retirement at the age of just 30. After this, he withdrew from the limelight until, in 2008, he was arrested for importing cocaine from the Caribbean and sentenced to thirteen years in prison.

From his arrival in England from Guyana with his parents, through his colourful cricketing career, his arrest and subsequent trial, his time in prison and how he finally put his life back together, here Lewis recounts his remarkable, redemptive story.

My thoughts

I felt that this book was a very interesting read and it gave a glimpse into the life of Chris Lewis. However I got to the end of the book and felt that there was another story that remained untold. The story of his isolation within the Cricketing world was only lightly touched on and was his motivations for becoming a drug mule. Maybe there are parts of his life that Lewis is not yet comfortable to share, but as a reader, I felt that there was much more I wanted to know. 

Dates -  1st December

Book Number of 2017 - 50 of 65

Synposis -

The Black race s under-education, dys-education (dysfunctional) and mis-education about Melanin merely reflects one particle of a mis-education. Black people must Know Thyself and to know yourself is to know Melanin

My thoughts

There are some books that are boring, there are others that are badly written and then there are some books that are down right dangerous. This book is in the third category. 

Dangerous because it peddles a pseudo science of black superiority through the mystical powers of Melanin. 

Dangerous because presents falsehoods as fact. 

Dangerous because it shows ideas of black racial superiority as normal.

As I was thinking about writing this review, the words of Nelson Mandela in 1964 at the Rivonia Trial came to mind

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”

Dates -  25th- 30th  November

Book Number of 2017 - 49 of 65

Synposis -

After a life of sex and drugs and the Communards - brilliantly recounted in the highly acclaimed first volume of his memoirs FATHOMLESS RICHES - the Reverend Richard Coles went on to devote his life to God and Christianity. He is also a much-loved broadcaster, presenting SATURDAY LIVE on Radio 4 and giving us regular reason to PAUSE FOR THOUGHT on Radio 2. What is life like for the parson in Britain today? For centuries the Church calendar - and the Church minister - gave character and personality to British life. Today, however, as the shape of the year has become less distinct and faith no longer as privileged or persuasive, that figure has become far more marginal. In BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES, Reverend Coles answers this question. From his ordination during the season of Petertide, through Advent and Christmas to Lent and Easter, he gives us a unique insight into his daily experience in the ministry, with all the joy, drama, difficulty and humour which life - and indeed death - serves up in varying measures. Written with extraordinary charm and erudition, BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES features a multitude of characters and events from parish life against a backdrop of the Christian calendar.

My thoughts

In his previous autobiography Richard Coles left the story of his life before he joined the priesthood. In this book he picks up and tells the story of the second half of his life, but rather that telling it in chronological order, he takes stories from the second half of his life and tells them based around the liturgical calendar. What this means is the clear narrative of the first book is lost and several unrelated stories are linked together in calendar. I also have the feeling that this is a less warts and all telling than his first set of memoirs, maybe because the events and relationships in this second book are still current. 

Overall this book was a disappointment. 

Dates -  25th November

Book Number of 2017 - 48 of 65

Synposis -

Last Easter, Britain’s best-loved vicar, the Rev. Richard Coles, led a pilgrimage to all the major historic sites of the Holy Land: from Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee in the North, via Jericho and the Jordan River, to Bethlehem and, finally, Jerusalem. All of the pilgrims in his care were practising Christians, except one: the writer Kevin Jackson, a diffident and sympathetic atheist intrigued by the chance to take part in this modern-day version of an ancient act of piety, and to learn some more about his old friend, the media clergyman. Coles to Jerusalem is Kevin Jackson’s light-hearted diary of that pilgrimage, and a close-up portrait of Richard Coles both as priest and as man. As the journey proceeds, Coles reminisces at length about his past life as a rock star and radical gay agitator, his new life as a spiritual leader and a popular broadcaster on BBC radio and television, and the strange, unpredictable path that led him from self-destructive debauchery to faith and vocation. With a lively supporting cast of fellow pilgrims, Coles to Jerusalem ranges among the magnificence of ancient monuments and the banalities of the guided tour, the grim political background of contemporary Israel and the comedy of a group of idiosyncratic English folk abroad, the intensity of worship and the lightness of banter. It will be irresistible to all admirers of Richard Coles, who has contributed a foreword; and a revelation to those who have never encountered his wisdom and warmth.

My thoughts

I hope the sequel to this book will be a trip to Newcastle, however I had to make do with the tale of a non believer on Pilgrimage with England’s favourite vicar leading the way. 

Whilst this book centered around Richard Coles, he was not the most interesting character in the book. Instead Jackson’s fellow pilgrims proved to be a source of stories much more interesting than the good Reverend himself. Also having just returned from the Holy Land a fortnight before reading this book, it was easy to put into context both the places they had visited and some of the experiences that they had had. It gave me a chance to reflect on my own trip.

Dates -  2 - 7th November 2017

Book Number of 2017 - 47 of 65

Synposis -

September 1909, and Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Florence, have been invited to Lord Riddlethorpe’s country estate for a week of motor racing and parties. They both agree that it sounds like a perfectly charming holiday. But when one of the drivers dies in a crash during the very first race, they discover that what seemed like an uncharacteristic error in judgement may have a more sinister explanation…

Closer investigation reveals that the driver’s car was sabotaged—and the driver murdered. The local constabulary are quick to dismiss the case, but Flo and Lady Hardcastle are determined to find out just who has committed this dastardly act, and why.

As the pair begin to make enquiries of Lord Riddlethorpe’s servants and guests, it seems that, below stairs and above, there is more to this case than meets the eye. And, even in the quiet of the countryside, death is always just around the bend.

My thoughts

In order avoiding falling into the Cabot Cove trap, Kinsey moves the mystery away from rural Gloucestershire, to Lincolnshire and Lord Riddlethorpe’s estate. As well as the murder mystery plots there is a romance side plot and racing side plots. 

However in this story, it felt that Kinsey was struggling with murder part of the book. The final reveal felt a little contrived, where as in the previous two books, the killers seemed to have an obvious and understandable motive, in this book the main plot seemed a little forced. However there was still enough in the Country weekend and racing story lines to keep me as a reader entertained. 

Dates -  15th October

Book Number of 2017 - 46 of 65

Synposis -

Spring, 1909, and Lady Hardcastle, amateur sleuth and all-round eccentric, is enjoying a well-deserved rest. But a week after a trip to the cattle market, Spencer Caradine, a local farmer, turns up dead in the pub, face-down in his beef and mushroom pie. Once again, it is up to Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Florence, to solve the case. Armed with wit and whimsy, not to mention Florence’s mean right hook, the pair set out to discover what really happened and why. Was it poison or just ill luck? As they delve further into their investigation, they encounter a theft where nothing is stolen, a séance with a troubled ghost and an ever-increasing number of Spencer’s family and friends who might just have motive for murder. One thing’s for sure: Lady Hardcastle has a mystery on her hands.

My thoughts

There is the sense of Murder She Wrote about the Lady Hardcastle novels, assuming that Jessica Fletcher had lived 80 years earlier and across the other side of the Atlantic, but the local amateur sleuth was at it again in this book, this time investigating a murder on market day. 

There was a wider range of interesting and fleshed out characters and interesting dialog along with a couple of twists and turns that kept the final killer fairly well hidden. 

Overall an excellent read for anyone who loves a good murder mystery. 

Dates -  15th - 22nd October

Book Number of 2017 - 45 of 65

Synposis -

GUARDIAN AND NEW STATESMAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017

'Compelling ... She has guts to spare ... An important story ... Role model? You bet' Tim Shipman, Sunday Times

'So human and inspiring, and my favourite book of the year so far' Rohan Silva, Guardian

When Harriet Harman started her career, men-only job adverts and a 'women's rate' of pay were the norm, female MPs were a tiny minority - a woman couldn't even sign for a mortgage. But, she argues, we should never just be grateful that things are better now. There's still more to do.

In

A Woman's Work

Harriet, Britain's longest-serving female MP, looks at her own life to see how far we've come, and where we should go next. This is an inspiring and refreshingly honest account of the part she has played (and the setbacks along the way) in the movement that transformed politics and women's lives - from helping striking female factory workers to standing for election while pregnant, from her memories of her own mother to her success in reforming the law on maternity rights, childcare, domestic violence and getting more women into parliament. But it is also a call for women today to get together and continue the fight for equality. If we don't, no one else will.

My thoughts

Reading Harriet Harman’s book was a reminder for me as to how the media can unfairly shape your view of an individual. I came to this book with two rather uncharitable thoughts in my mind, firstly that she was a failed cabinet minister who had been resistant to Social Security reform and secondly the Harriet Harperson name that had been given to her by the tabloids. Yet this book was like having the scales scraped from my eyes in terms of understanding her pioneering work as a Civil Rights Lawyer, her election to parliament, her battles in the parliamentary system and trying to achieve a work-life balance and her successes in Government as a law officer. 

There was something endearing about her passionate hatred of Tories and her commitment to feminism and equality. 

At the end of the book, I was thinking how much her gender would have shaped her narrative, had she been a male politician, would the perceived failures been lessened and would she have pushed herself to the forefront even more. Would she had run for leader in 2010. I was also thinking was there a level of misogyny on my part that had lead to the unfavourable opinion in the first place. 

My final thought was that in Harriet Harman, we have a woman who has left society in a much better place than she found it and gave women of all political persuasions encouragement that family and a political career are not mutually exclusive. 

Dates -  15th October

Book Number of 2017 - 44 of 65

Synposis -

Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they’ve just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life. But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There’s a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation… As Lady Hardcastle and Flo delve deeper into rural rivalries and resentment, they uncover a web of intrigue that extends far beyond the village. With almost no one free from suspicion, they can be certain of only one fact: there is no such thing as a quiet life in the country

My thoughts

I love a good murder mystery, and Amazon knows this as well and thus recommended me this marvellous novel by T E Kinsey. There is a touch of the Miss Marple in the single middle woman solving murders in rural England , but that is where the similarities end. Instead Lady Hardcastle and Florence have a long history of espionage behind them and dig through the murders in this book, were there are enough clues to both point you in the right direction and throw you off the scent. A wonderful read. 

Dates -  7th - 14th October

Book Number of 2017 - 43 of 65

Synposis -

In We Have a Good Time...Don't We? Maeve Higgins, comedian and lady, smashes the brittle veneer on the creme brulee of life and hands around spoons, so we can all taste the delicious absurdity that lies beneath. She then promises to stop making terrible food analogies about everything.

From terrifying hen nights, malevolent dolphins and angry bakers, to runaway cats, a stalker who won't commit and the curse of over-politeness, Maeve writes with warmth and wit about what it's like to be a regular human girl. And, crucially, she finally reveals the truth about her relationship with Michael Fassbender.

We Have a Good Time...Don't We? introduces a strikingly original voice that celebrates the truth of what we really feel about ourselves through these hilarious and perceptive snapshots of a life considered

My thoughts

This books was not a single text, but rather a set of short comic stories from Higgins’ life. I found the stories interesting and mildly amusing, it is not a book that I will be rushing to read again. The amusing stories of a 20 something single Irish comedian are not one that really strike a cord with me.

Dates -  14th October

Book Number of 2017 - 43 of 65

Synposis -

One of the most famous and admired African-American women in U.S. history, Sojourner Truth sang, preached, and debated at camp meetings across the country, led by her devotion to the antislavery movement and her ardent pursuit of women's rights. Born into slavery in 1797, Truth fled from bondage some 30 years later to become a powerful figure in the progressive movements reshaping American society.

This remarkable narrative, first published in 1850, offers a rare glimpse into the little-documented world of Northern slavery. Truth recounts her life as a slave in rural New York, her separation from her family, her religious conversion, and her life as a traveling preacher during the 1840s. She also describes her work as a social reformer, counselor of former slaves, and sponsor of a black migration to the West.

A spellbinding orator and implacable prophet, Truth mesmerized audiences with her tales of life in bondage and with her moving renditions of Methodist hymns and her own songs. Frederick Douglass described her message as a "strange compound of wit and wisdom, of wild enthusiasm, and flint-like common sense." This inspiring account of a black woman's struggles for racial and sexual equality is essential reading for students of American history, as well as for those interested in the continuing quest for equality of opportunity.

My thoughts

I wonder if Donald Trump has removed the bust of Sojouner Truth that Michelle Obama had placed in the White House? I hope he has not, because looking at that bust should remind us all of the struggles of slavery and that we are only 4 or 5 generations away from the story of Sojouner Truth and are still living today with the legacies of those times. 

This book was very, very short, clocking in at just 80 pages but the style of the prose, which I think was transcribed from Truth’s spoken vernacular by Gilbert into a book. However this made me read the book more slowly and take in the story and the hardships about being born a slave, becoming free upon the abolition in New York and her life after that. Unfortunately her later life and the transition from Isabelle Baumfree to Sojouner Truth, doesn’t get covered in as much detail as I would have liked and I think I will need to seek out a fuller biography of Truth to get a fuller story of her later life. 

However this should be a must read book for everyone.

Dates -  8th - 11th October

Book Number of 2017 - 42 of 65

Synposis -

Ken Clarke needs no introduction. One of the genuine 'Big Beasts' of the political scene, during his forty-six years as the Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire he has been at the very heart of government under three prime ministers. He is a political obsessive with a personal hinterland, as well known as a Tory Wet with Europhile views as for his love of cricket, Nottingham Forest Football Club and jazz.

In Kind of Blue, Clarke charts his remarkable progress from working-class scholarship boy in Nottinghamshire to high political office and the upper echelons of both his party and of government. But Clarke is not a straightforward Conservative politician. His position on the left of the party often led Margaret Thatcher to question his true blue credentials and his passionate commitment to the European project has led many fellow Conservatives to regard him with suspicion - and cost him the leadership on no less than three occasions.

Clarke has had a ringside seat in British politics for four decades and his trenchant observations and candid account of life both in and out of government will enthral readers of all political persuasions. Vivid, witty and forthright, and taking its title not only from his politics but from his beloved Miles Davis, Kind of Blue is political memoir at its very best.

My thoughts

There are very few Tory politicians that I would ever consider voting for and Ken Clarke is one of those. 

The book is clear evidence of why that is the case. It is easy to read, fill with interesting stories of the people who Clarke had to work with and against and details out some of his achievements in politics over the last five decades. He also has the knack of making the extreme positions seem fairly reasonable. 

However his insights into Black Wednesday will add to the body of historical knowledge on one of the craziest days in post war British political history.

What I took away from the book most, was that  Clarke didn’t take himself too seriously, but took his work seriously and was going to try to enjoy himself on the way. 

I ended up thinking that we need more Ken Clarke’s in politics from all sides of the spectrum. People who have succeeded in a profession, as Clarke did in the law, who have a firmness of character built from a solid start to life and a desire to leave the country a little bit better than they found it. I may find myself on the other side of the political spectrum but I ended up with a great deal of respect for Ken Clarke.

Dates -  1st - 8th October

Book Number of 2017 - 41 of 65

Synposis -

Read in an afternoon. Remember for a lifetime. The West is in full retreat. The Anglo-Saxon powers, great and small, withdraw into fantasies of lost greatness. Populists all over Europe cry out that immigration and globalisation are the work of a nefarious System, run by unseen masters with no national loyalties. From the Kremlin, Tsar Vladimir watches his Great Game line up, while the Baltic and Vizegrad states shiver -- and everyone looks to Berlin. But are the Germans really us, or them? This question has haunted Europe ever since Julius Caesar invented the Germani in 58 BC. How Roman did Germania ever become? Did the Germans destroy the culture of Rome, or inherit it? When did they first drive east, and did they ever truly rule there? How did Germany become, for centuries, a power-vacuum at the heart of Europe? How was Prussia born? Did Bismarck unify Germany or conquer it? Where are the roots of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich? Why did it lose? By what miracle did a better Germany arise from the rubble? Is Germany now the last Western bastion of industrial prosperity and rational politics? Or are the EU and the Euro merely window-dressing for a new German hegemony? This fresh, illuminating and concise new history, with more than 100 maps and images, makes sense of Europe's most admired and feared country.s.

My thoughts

Before I started to read this short history, I took myself for a person with a fairly good grasp of German history, through the ages. However as I started to make my way through this book it became very apparent that I did not. In this short and eminently readable book. Hawes talks through the interesting and complex history of the land we now know as Germany, from the Romans to Angela Merkel.

The most interesting thread throughout the book was the way that he brought back to the battle between those who wanted to look East and those who wanted to look west. 

Looking at the history through that lens gave me a brand new perspective on history of Germany.