At the Creation of a New Germany: From Adenauer to Brandt

McGhee served as U.S. ambassador to Bonn from 1963 to 1968, a period marked by West Germany's increasing independence from this country as it allied itself closer to France and improved its relationship with East Germany. In this low-key, disappointingly diplomatic memoir, he discusses the final six months of Konrad Adenauer's chancellorship, the three years of Ludwig Erhard's government, and a year and a half of ``Grand Coalition'' government under Kurt Kiesinger and Willi Brandt. McGhee was on the scene when President Kennedy visited West Germany in 1963; and he provides an eyewitness account of President Johnson's attempt to pressure Erhard into supporting U.S. policy in Vietnam--``Now is the time for Germany to pay us back.'' For non-specialists, the most interesting sections of the book are at the beginning and end: a reminiscence of McGhee's first visit to Germany in 1930 and an essay on the rigid traditions governing hunting in Germany. Photos. (Mar.)