What I've Read: In the Garden of Beasts

Erik Larson has not disappointed me as a writer yet, so digesting every word of his newest book was an easy assignment for me. He's written fantastic books like Thunderstruck and Devil in the White City, so if you haven't read those yet you just haven't experienced compelling writing that is all nonfiction but reads like the best page-turners you can find.

There's a whole cable channel dedicated to Nazi Germany; at least, it seems the History Channel is only concerned with that time in history. Fair enough, I suppose, considering there's a ton to talk about and plenty of footage to show. Oddly enough, Larson's book details a period of time just before World War II began that I had no idea would be this cool. This is about the man (and his family) who was made ambassador to Germany during and the one year he spent in the position and how it affected him, his daughter and what they experienced just before, during and after Hitler consolidated his power in Germany.

It seems like most of the books and movies and whatnot all deal with everything after Hitler began his march across Europe and invading nations. This book is about a college professor who becomes ambassador because no one else wants the job, and then he spends a year getting backstabbed, railroaded and (honestly) dicked around with by Nazi officials at every turn. It's clear early on that the pressure is on Dodd to wrangler debt payments from Germany, something Germany has no intention of doing, and that U.S. officials could care less about the problem Nazis are causing the Jews (and some of this is because at the time the U.S. was not exactly treating Jews perfectly, either).

While Dodd is having his troubles, the book spends the rest of the time following his daughter and her social life. She is, well, quite the hussy it seems. She dates a ton of guys, marries a few and cheats on every one of them at some point. And it's not just with random guys. She parties with journalists, dates a Russian intelligence officer (a precursor to the KGB) and even has lunch with Hitler. Pretty crazy, and that doesn't include the recruitment by the KGB that would eventually take place and other details that I'll let you discover when you read it yourself.

It's another stellar effort from Larson, and it's a shame he is such a stickler for detailed research because the bummer for it is that it takes a long time for another of his books to be released.