Dictionary of Contemporary Germany

Book excerpt: A series of dictionaries on the contemporary milieu of the world's most important countries. The ContemporaryCountry Dictionary series are not tourist guides--though tourists with a serious interest in countries they are visiting will find them of great help in learning more about these societies. These alphabetical reference guides have been compiled to give up-to-date information on all aspects of each country--explanations of terms that are outside the scope of a standard dictionary or encyclopedia--including acronyms, political and legal institutions, cultural phenomena, social welfare programs, industrial concerns, media, literary and political personalities, and much more. Each Dictionary has been compiled by two people--a native of the individual country and an English-speaking collaborator from either Great Britain or the United States. Readers are thus assured of authoritative information that is rendered in terms comprehensible to English-language readers. The Dictionaries will prove invaluable to researchers, librarians, and students.