We hope that you also will take the time to check out our six-part series, "Finding and Understanding Sources", which should hopefully prove to be helpful for you as you continue in your research.

I might recommend starting with Krebs, A most dangerous book. It's a case study of how one particular work that's always been at the center of Germanist theories has been twisted to fit many different changing political paradigms. It's very readable, and is probably the single best crash-course in the messy history of Germanist ideas.

If you want to get more specific and look at how Germanist ideas have developed in different parts of the historical discipline, Guy Halsall's 2007 Barbarian Migrations begins with an excelent takedown of the theory, complete with good discussion of its historical background.