Reviews

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

Editorial Review - Bookreporter.com - Kate Ayers

William E. Dodd, a professor of history at the University of Chicago, has become the United States ambassador to Germany. His timing couldn't have been much worse. World War I has ended, and Germans are in the process of rebuilding their country. At the same time, a powerhungry man named Adolf Hitler is poised to place himself at the head of the new Germany. This is the dawn of the Nazi ... Read full review

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LibraryThing Review

User Review - CSDaley - LibraryThing

A very good book (if a little dry). Very hard to read though. I learned a lot of history I was unaware of and most of it depressed me. I know it is easy to look back and ask, "how did the world let it happen?" but I still wonder. Read full review

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User Review - catzkc - LibraryThing

I love Erik Larson's non-fiction books. I wasn't sure exactly what this one was about when I picked it up. It covers the political climate in Germany starting in 1933 up to the Night of the Long ... Read full review

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User Review - Carolee888 - LibraryThing

William E. Dodd was chosen by FDR to be the ambassador to Germany when Hitler came to power. His daughter decided to go with him instead of tried to fix a failed marriage because she thought it would ... Read full review

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User Review - sochri - LibraryThing

A biography that reads like historical fiction. When reading biographical novels set around the time of WWII, it's often easy to get bogged down in details. Erik Larson keeps the story moving. I often ... Read full review

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User Review - rdwhitenack - LibraryThing

Was surprised by how little happened in this book with the main characters. Larson seems to leave you to make a verdict on their actions, although, to me, they didn't really stand out. What I valued ... Read full review

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User Review - e2d2 - LibraryThing

This was an engaging novelization of history. I say novelization because Larson weaves together a very particular kind of story about the Dodd family and 1930s Hitler in Germany. As fascinating as the ... Read full review

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User Review - bness2 - LibraryThing

Excellent read. Focuses most heavily on the years 1933-34 in Berlin (and Germany) from the perspective of the US Ambassador of the time. Ambassador Dodd arrived in 1933, just as Hitler was beginning ... Read full review