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3.5 

In the Garden of Beasts

By Erik Larson
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

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 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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2642 Reviews

3.5
Anxious Face with sweat“I really loved Devil in the White City so the bar was so high! I did it enjoy this though and as much as we all learn about WWII, this was an informative glimpse into the ramp-up to WWII in Germany and American attitudes at the time. I would have never heard of the family involved and key (more unknown)characters in the US and Germany in this time period if not for this book.”
Thinking Face“I truly enjoy Larson's way of writing. He has a way of presenting moments in history in an easily understandable and captivating manner. My family were in post war West Germany with the State Department. I have no memories but I recall my mother telling of the very fancy events that were held at Embassy.”

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