Review: "in The Garden Of Beasts: Love, Terror, And An American Family In Hitler's Berlin"

Erik Larson is not a novelist but his books on historical subjects are as beautifully written as if a novelist had written them. He has written about Chicago and the 1893 World's Fair, a terrible hurricane in Galveston, Texas, and a doctor/murderer in London. In all his books, he juxtaposes two events or characters and flits between the two. In this book, "In the Garden of Beasts", he presents the Dodd family of four in 1933 and the growing menace of Hitler and the Nazi party. It's brilliant writing at its best.

William Dodd was a professor at the University of Chicago and a product of a southern upbringing. He was mild-mannered and subtle, but fairly ambitious, career-wise. As a self-described "Jeffersonian Democrat", Dodd had come to the attention of newly-inaugurated Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 when Roosevelt and his State Department were looking for a new US ambassador to Germany. Adolf Hitler had come to power in Germany at about the same time as Roosevelt in the United States. Both faced Depression-wracked countries and both set about helping to heal the economic woes. Hitler's plans were much more ambitious at that point; getting out of the Versailles Treaty restrictions and cleansing Germany of her Jewish population were also on the agenda. Roosevelt's appointment of William Dodd as the United States Ambassador to Germany brought many questions from old diplomatic "hands" at the State Department as well as among Roosevelt's aides. Was Dodd "tough" enough to deal with Hitler? And, what WAS "tough enough" in dealing with Hitler and the growing German menace? And, what WAS the "growing German menace"? Lots of questions in 1933 wouldn't be answered until later; later, after "The Night of Long Knives", "Krystalnach", and the whole bloody butchery of WW2.

Dodd brought with him to Berlin in 1933 his wife, and two grown children, Martha and Bill, Jr. It was Martha - then aged 22 and full of life and with a secret, soon-to-be-divorced husband back home - who flirted with both the night-life and the political intrigue of Berlin. She landed in exalted circles - both artistic and political - and lead a rather exhausting love life with Germans, Americans, and Russians.

Life in Berlin in 1933 was easy-going, but still "edgy" as Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party fought for a political future. President Hindenburg was still alive and Hitler was his Chancellor. He was still not in command and would not be so until Hindenburg's death nearly a year later. Hitler was also fighting within his own ranks. His old comrade, Ernst Rohm, led the SA and it was a threat to Hitler. "The Night of Long Knives", in 1934, was the coup staged by Hitler as he got rid of Rohm and a lot of other political enemies. William Dodd, sickened by the violence and the knowledge that Hitler was on the road to world-power, began to speak out firmly about the Nazi regime and the threat it posed.

"In the Garden" is a masterpiece of writing for those interested in the subject. His book, "Devil in the White City", with its story of Chicago and a mass-murderer, might have appealed more to a wider audience, but this book is wonderful for the history buffs among us. I also appreciate the sources he lists at the end of the book.