ABSTRACT
The "Hitler Myth" reflects German historians' broader preoccupation with the Nazi past in the decades following World War II. The overriding concern of research in Germany on how the Nazi system had been possible, then into how it functioned was crucial. The early consciously self-critical 'contemporary history' saw itself as engaged in vital work of clarification for a new, uncertain democracy still feeling its way. Given Ian Kershaw's abrupt shift from researching medieval British history to studying modern German history, many of his earliest mentors and influences, such as Christopher Brooke and Eric Stone, had little impact on his subsequent development as a historian of the Third Reich. In particular, the concepts of resistance and consensus developed by the researchers on the project were extremely helpful when Kershaw came to formulate his own ideas on popular opinion and political dissent in the Third Reich, as well as on the role of Hitler himself.
