Charles Synyard (@CharlesSynyard)

As I near the end of Hitler’s War, by David Irving, one hilarious moment I have to share. As someone who posts regularly in the Children’s Books group, and a major fan of L. M. Montgomery, Enid Blyton, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Martha Finley, and other For Girls authors, I’ve wondered if there were grown men in the past that were known to be major fans, before the nerdification of culture when everyone became defined by niche hobbies which meant you could find anyone was into anything. Well… I was a little thrown when, on page 736, Hitler gripes that his Field Marshall Erwin von Witzleben (pictured) was, in paraphrase, “a pessimist whose only reading was schoolgirl books from his wife’s library”! Couldn’t find any other references to Witzleben’s taste in books, or which books he read. Irving relies on primary sources, and this detail might only be known through the mentioned police report. This being in German, was the Field Marshall a Johanna Spyri fan? Of course, this may not be the best endorsement, as Witzleben was among those who had a part in the July 20 Plot, and was hanged for treason! On this page, he’s listed among others plotters whose martial bearings were found wanting. Still, it is fun to picture this decorated military man, who played a key role in the successful invasion of France in 1940, shove his copy of Vinzi under a stack of maps as the rest of the staff arrives for a tense meeting. Whenever a guy partakes in a seemingly incongruous interest others find silly, I think back to a scene from early television, in the first episode of The Honeymooners. Neighbor Ed Norton is caught getting invested in a space-themed program aimed at younger children, and the episode is supposed to show him to be dimwitted and slow. But the mockers would not have the last laugh: the availability of streaming media, and for books the ease of reading online, on an e-reader, or ordering in privacy from your home, have reduced the pressure to go for what everyone else is reading, and make it easy to find others who like the same things, and will value and reinforce your choices. Whatever bad things Erwin von Witzleben did, being a fan of his wife’s old schoolgirl-aimed novels was not one of them. #DavidIrving #HitlersWar #ErwinVonWitzleben #Witzleben #July20Plot #childrensliterature #childrensbooks #literature #books #WWII #history #TheHoneymooners #niche #interests #hobbies