Timothy Mason

For the English clockmaker, see Timothy Mason (clockmaker). For the American playwright, see Timothy Mason (playwright).

Timothy Mason
Born
Timothy Wright Mason

(1940-02-02)2 February 1940
Birkenhead, England
Died5 March 1990(1990-03-05) (aged 50)
Rome, Italy
NationalityEnglish
Other namesTim Mason
Known forArguing for a "primacy of politics" approach to Nazi Germany and for World War II being caused by an economic crisis in Germany
Spouses
  • Ursula Vogel
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1970, divorced)​
    [4]
  • Simonetta Piccone
    ​
    (m. 1987)​
    [4]
Parent(s)Walter Wright Mason, Isabel Anna (Smith) Mason
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisNational Socialist Policies Towards the German Working Classes, 1925–1939 (1971)
Influences
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Sub-disciplineModern German history
InstitutionsSt Peter's College, Oxford[3]
Notable studentsPeter Alter
Main interestsNazi Germany
InfluencedSir Ian Kershaw

Timothy Wright Mason (2 February 1940 – 5 March 1990) was an English Marxist historian of Nazi Germany. He was one of the founders of the History Workshop Journal and specialised in the social history of the Third Reich. He argued for the "primacy of politics," i.e., that the Nazi government was "increasingly independent of the influence of the [German] economic ruling classes," and believed the Second World War had been triggered by an economic crisis inside Germany.

  1. ^ a b Blackbourn 1990, p. 3.
  2. ^ a b Nolan 1997, p. 244.
  3. ^ Blackbourn 1990, p. 3; Perry 1999, p. 780.
  4. ^ a b Perry 1999, p. 780.