But the CSU's glory is wavering, and it is uncertain whether it will be able to maintain its positions of power in the Free State of Bavariaand in Berlin. Roman Deininger has been scrutinizing the CSU for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" for many years. His subtle portrait of this "special" party is well informed, critical, fair and - like the CSU itself - highly entertaining. What other parties can only dream of is a hell of a fall for the CSU: it achieved only 37.2 percent in the 2018 state elections in Bavaria, after having ruled almost uninterruptedly with an absolute majority for decades. How can this enormous success be explained and why this crisis now? How does this party actually work? Roman Deininger follows the path of the CSU, but his book is far more than lesson in history – it is a political report that takes the reader to the tradition of Political Ash Wednesdays and behind the scenes of power.