Weimar

Weimar is populated not by abstractions but by people... Hoyer writes with verve and a keen eye for telling detail... She shows with quiet acuity how ordinary, self-respecting Weimarers succumbed to the siren call of Nazism

The Times

A fascinating history of Germany from 1914 to the Second World War

Daily Mail

Britain's favourite German historian... Hoyer has been beavering away in the archives to tell the story of the crack-up of democracy in interwar Germany, through a vivid cast of characters

Sunday Times

Humane history-writing at its best

Literary Review

Its writing is gripping, Hoyer’s command of existent histories is clear, and her primary research is thorough and inventive... Reading Hoyer’s book, I recalled Svetlana Alexievich’s stated aim in Voices from Chernobyl: to tell the stories of ‘little, great people’ who voice their ‘own, little histories’ while ‘big history is told along the way’. This is where Weimar excels

History Today

Such an important book

The Independent

The autopsy of a liberal democracy, told in the words of its own citizens. Katja Hoyer tracks the everyday acts of omission and concession in the face of ruthless wrong, showing how the compliant and the complacent ultimately undermine the brave. A book about a hundred years ago— without question a book for now

Neil MacGregor

A bright, young historian... Strap in to watch the slow collapse of a society, amid a throng of fascists, socialists, artists and politicians

Telegraph, Books to Look Forward to in 2026

A fresh and gripping account of the interwar years seen through the lens of Germany’s most legendary town. By skilfully weaving into the political narrative the stories of ordinary people, Katja Hoyer gives readers a vivid sense of what it was like to be alive then and there. Brilliantly researched, this is history at its very best

Julia Boyd

A nuanced account of the spiritual and cultural heart of Germany … Hoyer serves up history with a human heart

Irish Times

From literary and artistic gem to Nazi stronghold, how a quaint town encapsulated the best and worst in German history ... Weimar is an excellent read

Financial Times

Hoyer's book confronts us with troubling ambiguities ... Understanding why ordinary, even likeable, people turned away from democracy is, she argues, essential to safeguarding freedom ... that task could scarcely be more urgent

Guardian

Lucid, lively... Entirely to her credit, Hoyer describes the vices, vanities, fears, cowardice, heroism, naivety, cynicism, opportunism and the very human instinct to protect one's loved ones without indulging in self-righteous moralising

Ian Buruma, New Statesman

Superb... Katja Hoyer finds the town of Weimar a perfect microcosm for a country teetering into darkness... intelligent, original and well-researched... an exemplary insight into a grim chapter in German history

Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph