Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate returns to his favourite topic: the Germans. The Ethiopian prince and urbane historian scrutinizes the virtues of the people with whom he has found his home from home. Punctuality may well be an unsurprising item on the list, but grace and even humour have so far not appeared peculiarly German virtues. These are only some of many of the authors’ observations of German character traits – from the curious to the charming.