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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Great non-fiction account of the changes in Germany and the appointment of a new ambassador in 1939. Fascinating read!
I learned historical facts I never really understood like how ignorant Americans were about the dangers of Hitler’s rise.
Great book, very much inline with his previous books. Easy to read and difficult to put down.
I adore Erik Larson’s work. He manages to find historical stories that read like fiction but are actually true! So much to learn through his work….
In The Garden Of Beasts by Erik Larson is a fascinating yet horrifying account of American ambassador to Berlin, William Dodd, after his appointment in summer of 1933.
The book charts the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. Hitler is described by Dodd’s daughter as “a clown who looked like Charlie Chaplin… could not imagine him lasting very long …
This is nonfiction and follows the ambassador to Berlin during Hitler’s rise to power. The process he uses is chilling and is a cautionary tale of how a maniac can rise to power.
I read everything this author writes…
This author gives non-fiction subjects the best that can be offered–a wonderfully readable story, yet still true. He is a great writer. The book tells the chilling story of the rise of Nazism in Germany as told against the backdrop of the lives of the American ambassador to Germany and his family during this time in the changing city of …
Creative writing! Love Erik’s books and have read everyone of them except his newest.
One of the best nonfiction writers tackles this incredibly difficult history. You want to put the book down because the information is so hard to absorb but you can’t because it is so compelling.
Note: Erik Larson just released The Splendid and the Vile, his novel-like story of the first 12 months of Winston Churchill in office, which was concurrent with the onset of WW II and the London Blitz. Both books represent the best in historical fiction, in line with the great works of David Halberstam and William Manchester. I’m reviewing In The …
True account of the family of the American Ambassador to Germany in the years leading up to WWII. You can see history unfold through their letters and memoirs about how Hitler was able to seduce the population and how the other countries were reluctant to step in. E.g., Roosevelt couldn’t say much about how Jews were being treated without the …
This book made me realize that we all need to be paying attention to what it happening in the world around us!
Erik Larson brought to light the grim events leading to WWII and the people who who were part and parcel of them. No one was spared from the microscopic eye of the author’s painstaking research. I am thankful for writers who have not laid WWII to rest.
This history of the American Ambassador to Germany, and his daughter, just prior to WWII was a stunning story of the intrigues and challenges of living in Berlin in the 1930s. It you like WWII history it is a must read. Erik Larson never disappoints his readers.
Today’s time, scare me.
Another excellent novel based on WW II history
Not an easy read, but every informative about what events lead up to Hitler’s reign in Germany. The story is told from diary and correspondence along with accounts from the Dodd family who was the ambassador in Germany during that time. If you love history and learning the behind the scenes details you will enjoy this book.
Hard to believe that we were so naive about the Hitler that he would become.
Well up to this author’s high standards.
Tough to put down.