In the Garden of Beasts

Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts:  Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin is the true story of William E. Dodd, America’s first ambassador to Germany under the rule of Adolf Hitler.  Dodd is a professor in Chicago when he accepts Franklin Roosevelt’s appointment to ambassador and brings his wife and adult children with him to Berlin.  There the family experiences the beginning of what it was like to live in Nazi Germany and Dodd encounters the difficulties of dealing with this brutal new regime.

True to its title, the book focuses on the Dodd family as they arrive in Germany and begin to see firsthand the terror the Jews are facing at the hands of the Nazis.  Larson explores the relationship between Ambassador Dodd and his various superiors in the US government as he tries to convince them of the danger of the new German government.  The other main topic is Dodd’s daughter, Martha, who created some scandal by getting involved in relationships with Nazi officials, as well as a Soviet secret agent in Germany.  You can’t make this stuff up folks.

Larson is clearly a talented writer/researcher and there was some interesting stuff in the book.  It was particularly chilling to read of the ambivalent feelings of some US officials towards the Nazi treatment of the Jews.  And while Dodd seems to be a little miscast in his role of ambassador, it was fascinating to see him arguing with both his superiors back home as well as attempting to push back with the Nazi leaders, including Hitler himself.  If you like history this was a pretty good glimpse into the start of a terrible time in the history of the world.  I’d recommend, but you’ve probably noticed that I recommend most books I read, so obviously I’m a bit of an easy grader.

Next up:  Straight Man by Richard Russo