A good book which argues that there is no one "German liberalism" which can be distinguished from overall European definitions. What we do have is, from the early 19th century, a number of German liberals working at the municipal level of German politics. Rather than the Thatcherite liberals of today, early liberals, particularly in the German states, were social liberals, who sought state intervention to help the common man. Before 1848, these liberals aimed to construct a classless 'utopia' through means of a codified, fair constitution. After 1848 they defended Prussia as their champion over Austria as the former retained its constitution and the latter did not. Langewsiesche concludes that liberalism in Germany has proved remarkably successful as a societal idea, even as the popularity of official liberal parties has fluctuated over time.