In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
I'd discovered Erik Larson by chance. We were visiting Chicago for a wedding a few years ago our cab driver highly recommended Larson's earlier book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
This latest book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
The blurb:
Berlin, 1933. William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germny in a year that will prove to be a turning point in history. A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, he brings along his wife, son, and a flamboyant daughter, Martha. Dodd must associate with key Nazis and attend their glittering parties, while telegraphing his growing fears to a largely indifferent State Department. His daughter, meanwhile, becomes entranced with the "New Germany" and has one affair after another, including with the surprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. The year darkens ominously, and both Dodd and his daughter find their lives gradually transformed -- until the bloody night that reveals Hitler's true charcter.
Breathtakingly paced, with unforgettable portraits of Germany's new masters, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Review:
If you are interested in Nazi Germany or enjoy reading about history or nonfiction, do read In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin.
His choice of the Dodds as the main characters gives us a glimpse into the U.S. diplomatic corps at that time. Dodd's resentment of the wealthy and connected diplomats that populated the service becomes an important factor in the outcome of his diplomatic mission. Larson demonstrates the ways in which Dodd was an awkward fit and how this outsider status affected the way he dealt with his German colleagues. His beautiful and wild daughter Martha dove into Berlin's social circuit. Her friendships, love affairs, contacts, and adventures further complicated the Dodds' position with fellow diplomats - and help make In the Garden of Beasts
ISBN-10: 0307408841 - Hardcover $26.00
Publisher: Crown; 1St Edition edition (May 10, 2011), 464 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher.
About the Author:
Erik Larson graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Russian history, language and culture. He received a masters in journalism from Columbia University. After a brief stint at the Bucks County Courier Times, Larson became a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, and later a contributing writer for Time Magazine. He has written articles for The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and other publications.
Erik Larson is the author of national bestsellers Thunderstruck
I highly recommend this book, especially for those who think they have everything nailed down regarding the aspects of WWII related to the Nazis and the German powers in place at the time. You will not be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteErik Larson's saga is fascinating, heartbreaking, unemotional, and mystifying. It reads like the political thriller that was Germany in the 1930s and demonstrates how quickly and completely a people can be influenced by the combination of a charismatic leader and intimidation by force. It is a real life horror story that should not be missed.
ReplyDeleteMarlene
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