Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (edition 2011)by Erik Larson
Work InformationIn the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Top Five Books of 2013 (1,544) » 7 more Books Read in 2019 (1,044) 2021 Christmas Gifts (39) Books Read in 2023 (5,234) To Read (174) Tagged 20th Century (32) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. like all eric larson's book this was interesting and well written. He didn't have as many side stories as usual, which for me was disappointing. Still, an interesting peek at what life must have been like in Germany as the Nazis came to power ( ) Very well-written and an interesting read. However, it is very much unlike his other books with two protagonists who live parallel lives that eventually intersect with one experience. In this book, Larson has also failed to prevent the one thing that historians must be careful not to do--viewing history through the lens of hindsight. His questioning of why certain people in America did nothing to stop Hitler does not truly take into account the political, economic, and social climate of the time. He states the isolationism of the people and the Great Depression, but does not really represent what that entails and so passive-aggressively questions the US government's ineffectual policies regarding Germany (and really, all of Europe). Regardless, it is extremely interesting to view Nazi Germany from the point of view of those who lived, worked, and loved in what became the most hated regime of all time. The tale of 1933 - from May of 33 to July of 34, really, in Berlin, from the perspective of the American ambassador and his family. Same material as in '1933' by Metcalfe, but much better written. The end was a bit abrupt and somewhat disconnected, but overall a superb page turner. Very disconcerting to see parallels 90 years later. (2011)Another very good up close history. This one explores the Dodds, as William becomes the United States ambassador to Germany during 1933 and 1934 just as Hitler and his gang of thugs start to come to real power. Also a lot of time is spent on Martha, his daughter, who apparently sleeps with every high-ranking German official and Russian spy in the country. The really interesting arc is how William changes from an apologist for the German regime to what appears to be the only wise person in the State Department who realizes that Hitler is a very bad man and only horror will come from his rule.Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2011: In the Garden of Beasts is a vivid portrait of Berlin during the first years of Hitler's reign, brought to life through the stories of two people: William E. Dodd, who in 1933 became America's first ambassador to Hitler's regime, and his scandalously carefree daughter, Martha. Ambassador Dodd, an unassuming and scholarly man, is an odd fit among the extravagance of the Nazi elite. His frugality annoys his fellow Americans in the State Department and Dodd's growing misgivings about Hitler's ambitions fall on deaf ears among his peers, who are content to ?give Hitler everything he wants.? Martha, on the other hand, is mesmerized by the glamorous parties and the high-minded conversation of Berlin's salon societyand flings herself headlong into numerous affairs with the city's elite, most notably the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet spy. Both become players in the exhilarating (and terrifying) story of Hitler's obsession for absolute power, which culminates in the events of one murderous night, later known as ?the Night of Long Knives.? The rise of Nazi Germany is a well-chronicled time in history, which makes In the Garden of Beasts all the more remarkable. Erik Larson has crafted a gripping, deeply-intimate narrative with a climax that reads like the best political thriller, where we are stunned with each turn of the page, even though we already know the outcome. --Shane Hansanuwat
William E. Dodd was an academic historian, living a quiet life in Chicago, when Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him United States ambassador to Germany. It was 1933, Hitler had recently been appointed chancellor, the world was about to change. Had Dodd gone to Berlin by himself, his reports of events, his diary entries, his quarrels with the State Department, his conversations with Roosevelt would be source material for specialists. But the general reader is in luck on two counts: First, Dodd took his family to Berlin, including his young, beautiful and sexually adventurous daughter, Martha; second, the book that recounts this story, “In the Garden of Beasts,” is by Erik Larson, the author of “The Devil in the White City.” Larson has meticulously researched the Dodds’ intimate witness to Hitler’s ascendancy and created an edifying narrative of this historical byway that has all the pleasures of a political thriller: innocents abroad, the gathering storm. . . . Belongs to Publisher SeriesLe livre de poche (33098) AwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
History.
Nonfiction.
HTML:??Larson is a marvelous writer...superb at creating characters with a few short strokes.???New York Times Book Review Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to 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 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 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 E No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)943.086History and Geography Europe Germany and central Europe Historical periods of Germany Germany 1866- Third Reich 1933-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin AustraliaAn edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia. |