A journey into the German Reich, through the eighteen territories memorialized in the Hall of Liberation - from Prussia and Hanover to Bavaria and Austria. And this is a tale not just of buildings, but of people too, whether Swabians or Bohemians, poets or musicians or kings. Via cathedrals and castles, ferries and pleasure cruisers, statues and spas, concentration camps and mausoleums, Geoghegan winds his way up and down the hills and rivers of a modern yet nostalgic landscape. A compelling and vivid exploration of German identity through the traces of the past in the present.