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In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
In the Garden of Beasts tells the true story set in Berlin during 1933-1934. After several others have refused the offer, Chicago professor William E. Dodd agrees to be the U.S. ambassador to Germany. Dodd had been a lover of many things German, but began his ambassadorship at the beginning of the Nazi era. He took his family with him, including his daughter Martha. Martha was a lively spirit, already married once and linked with powerful men. She's initially swayed by the charm and power of the Nazi elite, taking several of them as lovers. Her impression of these men, as well as her father's, takes a drastic turn as they realize the terror and evil these men are capable of perpetrating. William Dodd's cables about the potential dangers of the Nazis fall on dear ears back in Washington. Erik Larson's book has received positive reviews with the Washington Post saying, "I found Larson's book to be utterly compelling, and while I was reading it there were several occasions on which I had to stop and check to make sure it really was a work of nonfiction. It is - and marvelous stuff."
