Introduction; Part I. Background: 1. Politics and technological excellence: organic chemicals, 1860–1945: 2. Western German chemicals in flux, 1945–55; Part II. Bargaining from Strength: The Political Economy Of Technological Change, 1945–55: 3. A new agenda, 1949–55: Cold War, changing energy patterns and the development of West German chemical technology; 4. Rejoining the international community: international cooperation and technology transfer, 1951–5; Part III. Alternative Paths to Plenty: Case Studies from the mid-1950s: 5. Fifty-fifty with the petroleum multinationals: BASF, Shell, and Rheinische Olefinwerke; 6. Fifty-fifty with the petroleum multinationals: Bayer, British Petroleum, and Erdölchemie; 7. Going it alone: Hoechst; 8. State's interest and technological change: Hüls and cold-rubber technology; 9. End game strategies: the German coal industry and the Fischer–Tropsch process; Part IV. Consolidating the New Regime, 1957–61: 10. Petrochemicals triumphant, 1957–61; 11. Conclusion; Index.