Thomas Weber is a historian and author known for his research on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. He was born in 1974 in Germany. Weber's work often focuses on uncovering lesser-known aspects of Hitler's life and examining the dynamics that led to his rise to power. He has written several books, including "Hitler's First War: Adolf Hitler, the Men of the List Regiment, and the First World War," which delves into Hitler's experiences as a soldier during World War I. Weber's scholarship combines extensive archival research with a critical analysis of historical sources.
What books are on your bedside table?
A pile of books so high that I hope it won’t come tumbling down on me in the middle of the night. It is made up of books I’d absolutely love to devour but probably never will, as there are only 24 hours in the day. But I am currently reading Dorothy Sayers’ ‘Whose Body’ – there is always a mystery novel by my bedside for sheer pleasure and excitement, but also to inspire my own writing, as there is no excuse to bore readers even if we write non-fiction, and in the case of Sayers to remind myself that there is also a deeper almost impenetrable mystery to life that is still well worth exploring; Otried Preußler’s ‘The Little Witch’ – to introduce my younger daughter to a little girl aged 127 as well as to one of my childhood favourite writers after visiting the Brocken, the mountain of the witches, earlier in the summer; and ‘Stalin and the Fate of Europe: The Postwar Struggle for Sovereignty’ by my Hoover colleague Norman Naimark – as I try to figure out how wars end and how peacemakers and their adversaries act when the future is still indeterminate.
Which book or author do you always return to?
There are too many new exciting books and authors to explore to find time – with few exceptions – to reread books, but the Bible has been with me for as long as I can think. Whether or not we are believers, it is the most important book with which to engage in order to understand the world in which we live. And again, whether or not we are believers, we all need to reengage with books that lay out ethical visions of what ‘the good life’ looks like. Democracy has been hollowed out less by defective institutions than by erosion of pre-political values, such as tolerance, moderation, solidarity, trust and empathy even towards adversaries, justice and patience. Once those values are gone, democracy dies even with the best institutions in the world in place and darkness returns.
What kind of reader were you as a child?
Not sure if I have changed much since my parents gave me for my sixth birthday in 1980 a mystery book, an atlas, and a book about the countries of the world, all of which continue to be among my most treasured belongings. Both then and now, history, international affairs, and mysteries (and a few other less bookish things) were and are my passions. I guess there is little surprise that the six-year-old boy who oscillated between being a nerd and an explorer ended up as a Professor of History and International Affairs (I did not manage to squeeze ‘mystery’ into the title of my professorship.) As a child, I voraciously sought to figure out worlds different from my own, both in the past and in the present, even though I have always very much loved my own world. And growing up in 1980s Germany, I became obsessed with making sense of the tension between the (to me) wonderful world in which I grew up and my country’s past. Even as a child, I soon hungered for books that allowed me to figure out how lovely people are capable of committing unspeakable acts and how war and peace spring from the same well.
When working on a new project, how do you sift through competing ideas in order to move forward?
I talk to friends and colleagues. I have never understood the saying that it is better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. It is wonderful to be surrounded by great minds and to be inspired by them. There are few things in life as exciting as discussing new book projects with smart friends. I also try to figure out what kind of book I would write if I were incarcerated in some remote castle for the rest of my life and I knew that my book would never leave those castle grounds. This might sound paradoxical, as I cherish interacting with readers and I believe that as a scholar of history and international affairs I also have a societal and ethical obligation to do so. But I do think that we only should tackle book projects that we would still want to write even if their only function was to satisfy our own curiosity about unresolved mysteries about the human condition and to keep our mind going.
What writing habit do you have that is impossible to shift? (.e.g a particular snack, writing hours, location, caffeine consumption etc)
I follow a certain routine to get myself into what I call ‘my (writing) zone’. I read a few paragraphs or a few pages by some of my favourite writers (I guess now I am contradicting my own claim not to reread books) or I look on Twitter for some intriguing op-ed or essay. I put on the kettle, or in the evening pour myself a glass of crisp white wine. Then I put on my headphones to listen to music that I love but know so intimately well that I don’t pay conscious attention to it; all the while subconsciously it takes me to a different place – such as Swan Lake, Natalia Lafourcade, Natalia Jimenez, Nick Cave, or some of my favourite film and TV music. Soon thereafter I will have arrived in ‘my zone’ and new words start to flow and dance on the screen of my laptop. The routine laid out here magically transports me into a different, wonderful, and almost indescribable world. Now I only have to hope that no telemarketer will deflate the magic with one ring of my mobile phone …
The international literature festival berlin (ilb) has become essential to Berlin’s literary calendar. What do you connect with the city?
Few places in the world excite me quite as much as Berlin. All the contradictions and mysteries of past and present come together in Berlin. Seemingly the entire world is on display in Berlin. And yet each Kiez provides a sense of belonging and home. It is a place to try out new ideas and to immerse myself in the embarrassment of the cultural riches of the city. And from dawn till dusk, or sometimes from dusk till dawn, I meet friends and acquaintances.
