In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, (Paperback)

from Chris469

Since I am one of the .0001 percent of the readership of this book that had already read Ambassador Dodd's Diary, on which much of this book was based, much of Larson's book did not, for me, have the impact of novelty and freshness that it will for other readers. Having said that, "Dodd's Diary" ...

from jvassar

This is an example of a set of historical events which are woven together in a masterful way that captivates and then holds the reader until the story ends. This book is set in Pre-World War II Germany, primarily in Berlin from 1933 until the end of 1937. The story is an account of a family's tim...

from brenzi

This is a biography really of a man who just happened to fumble his way into the ambassadorship to Germany in 1933. He didn't want to be there, nobody in the State Dept. thought he was doing a very good job, and, coincidentally, neither did Hitler nor his henchman. Rather, William E. Dodd wished ...

from creynolds

While I learned quite a bit about the build-up of Hitler's power prior to the beginning of WWII, I have lingering reservations about the book in general. My theory is that Ambassador Dodd and his daughter Martha were avid journalers, so he had lots to include about them in this book. The other tw...

from maggie1944

In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson is a straight forward, exceedingly well researched, and engagingly written history of an American ambassador, and his family, in Berlin at the beginning of Hilter's rise to power. Both the Ambassador, William E. Dodd, and his daughter, Martha, are fascinatin...