In the Garden of Beasts

Title: In the Garden of Beasts

Author: Erik Larson

Pages: 448

Genre: History, Non-Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: William E. Dodd is an academic from Chicago when he is named as America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany.  He arrives in Germany in 1933 and is immediately surprised by the opulent expectations of him.  He is determined to only live off of his annual salary, but most ambassadors (and even others in the State Department) come from families with deep pockets and are used to having chauffeurs, servants, cooks, etc.  While Dodd doesn't immediately recognize the threat of the Nazis, once he does he tries to convey the risks and threats back home to America. Most of his warnings are ignored as the US public is mostly interested in a policy of isolationism. As is often the case in Larson's books, there is a second story-line, that of Ambassador Dodd's daughter Martha, who sleeps her way around Berlin with other dignitaries, communists and even some from Hitler's staff.

My Review: This is a book about Hitler's Germany, but focuses more on his rise in the 1930's, which is a time period that I'm not too familiar with.  It was interesting to read about how the German people were slowly acclimated to Hitler's crazy policies and ideas.  He would move things two step forward, apologize and step back, then take another two steps forward, with a few large leaps thrown in.  A good lesson on warnings flags to watch out for.