The time is 1933, the
place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to
Hitler’s 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 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 surprisingly 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 Dodd’s
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.
Kept me reading all the
way to the end. Erik Larson has a true
talent for writing about historical times.
4 stars (PG-13 for
disturbing violence)
Wow! I loved this book. For me it was a "I can't put in down" book.
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