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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It shows the view of the Ambassador of the United States to Nazi Germany in the days leading up to the start of the Second World War. If you have any interest in foreign policy, international affairs, history, Germany, Naziism, or just want to read a good story, which is also true, this is the book for you.
Erik Larson’s work is ALWAYS a worthy read, but this one is truly unbelievable. I know that the expression “stranger than fiction” has become a cliche but it really applies in this instance.
By pure coincidence, I read this immediately after The Orientalist. The setting of both books is very similar: Europe in the interwar years, fraught with the tension of rising Nazism in Germany and rising communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. This book, however, focuses largely an American perspective and American motives for when and why the …
Wow. This is a fabulous book! We often ask, “Why did Germany, and then world, allow Hitler’s aggressive policies that led to the invasion of so many countries and the extermination of at least 6 million people?” This book realistically depicts the unfolding of insidious events that were so unusual in the modern world that most people never …
Eric Larsen is an excellent researcher who can tell a story like a novel. This particular non-fiction book is a little denser than his others, BUT his telling of FDR’s first Ambassador to Germany at Hitler’s rise in 1933 is chilling. Old school diplomats from the US in Germany are not alarmed, but FDR’s ambassador is rudely awaken during the …
Not quite as well-paced as _Devil in the White City_ but still a fascinating glimpse into an era.
Here is the book for you if you would like to understand feelings in the months leading up to World War II in Berlin.
This is an amazing account of the rise of the Nazi regime as seen from the US ambassador in Berlin who was largely ignored by Washington.
Really interesting writing.
This book provides an up-front look at what it was like to live under the Nazis and their madness!
Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s was a big mystery to isolationist America. Our diplomats on the scene had to cope with some really intense and horrific realities, while being so very careful not to alienate the Nazis.
Fantastic book about the beginning of World War 2. If people had listened to those living in Germany at the time, history may have been different. Informative read.
Love the way Larson writes.
Another great read from Erik Larson. I couldn’t put it down.
Very interesting, but not easy to read. It is nonfiction, and so many of the people had similar names that it was hard to keep them all straight. This took away from the drama as I could never fully connect with the people since I had to keep breaking up the narrative to remind myself who was who.
A good presentation about why Hitler was able to fool others such as USA citizens about his motives and plans.
Incredible and unknown story of the events in Germany leading to Hitler’s take-over of the country. Well researched and surprising events despite knowing how things turned out. Tremendous insight into various historically figures. Highly recommended!
Amazing book. The author truly makes history come alive and leaves you at the edge of your seat.
Very interesting and very well written
Historical