Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Devil in the White City, delivers a remarkable story set during Hitler’s rise to power.
The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Nazi Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.
A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and … Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany,” she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance — and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.
Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Göring and the expectedly charming — yet wholly sinister — Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively readable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.
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The most important aspect of this book for me was showing how on one day, a line was crossed in Germany, and, in my opinion, it could never go back. When the SA was essentially wiped out, when murder was committed in the name of the state, and the country accepted it, then Germany’s fate was sealed.
I taught with Erik at the Maui Writers …
I thought I was familiar with the history of World War II, but I had no idea how much the outside world knew about Hitler’s atrocities during the early 1930s. I was stunned by the attitude of the US State Department and FDR…they were more concerned with recouping money from German debtors than with protesting the erosion of civil liberties in …
Erik Larson never disappoints. This book is fantastic. Through the diary posts of the Ambassador to Germany and his daughter before and during Hitler’s reign, you see the transition from their opinions initially praising Hitler to seeing the reality of his brutality.
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This is a true story, fascinatingly narrated by the author from the diaries of the Berliners of 1933-1934. Adolf Hitler has just been elected chancellor of Germany, the Nazis have not yet taken power, the state, and the army, and a new American ambassador is taking office in Berlin. It’s a great way to learn history: not retrospectively, with …
This is a fascinating, extremely-well researched work of historical nonfiction from the author of “The Devil in the White City.” I was drawn to this because of my love for the great walking city of Berlin and my fascination with the deeds both dark and light that have emanated from this German city. I did not know anything about American …
I appreciate histories and biographies that are well researched and documented. Erik Larson is a supreme researcher who knows a) how to research and b) how to craft a story from that research. In this Larson history, we understand how the Nazis were able to rise to power in spite of the human rights violations. The enamoredness Martha experiences …
I am not sure how to review this book as there is just SO MUCH to try and break down and that would be impossible here. I just spent 45 minutes trying to break it down for my mom and I still didn’t touch on many of the things that frustrated, horrified, terrified. and ultimately saddened [as any book about this time period does] me in this book. …
Amazing book by an amazing author.
One of my favorite books by a favorite author. It is so informative to know the mindset of Americans before Hitler became the Fuher and the feeling about the Jewish population.
Erik Larson’s Devil In the White City is one of my favorite books, the non-fiction detailing of a time, place, and series of events in a narrative style so taut and suspenseful that it read like the very best kind of fiction. Given my affinity for the writer’s tone and sense of pacing and rhythm, I picked up In the Garden of Beasts… poised to …
Husband loves all EL books.
The fact that it is non-fiction makes it even more haunting and scary because the US ambassador and his family were so heavily entwined with Germany at the time of Hitler’s rise.
Extremely well-written
It was incredibly informative and scary to realize how history continues to repeat itself, because everyday people turn their heads.
Excellent historical account of American innocence contrasted with Nazi evil in late 30’s Berlin
I recommend all of Erik Larson’s books for great non-fiction.
It was the real history of rise of nazism
If you think you know what was going on in Hitler’s Germany in 1934-35 you should check out the Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson. A fascinating picture of the American Ambassador to Germany’s life in Berlin during this period, which covers the “night of the long knives” massacre of Ernst Rohlm (spelling?)and the brown shirts by Hitler and his …
Fascinating non-fiction account of pre-war Nazi Germany. Very well written and well told.
I had read some books on Germany in WWII but this one, covering the years before, certainly increased my knowledge of the part the United States played in Hitler’s climb to power. A non-fiction book that reads like fiction. Eye opening!