 Evans denounced Stürmer for writing a laudatory biography of Otto von Bismarck, which he felt marked a regression to the Great man theory of history and an excessive focus on political history.In Evans's opinion, a social historical approach with the emphasis on society was a better way of understanding the German past.In his 1989 book about the "Historikerstreit", "In Hitler's Shadow", Evans stated that he believed that the exchanges during the "Historikerstreit" had destroyed Stürmer's reputation as a serious historian.