In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

"But history will record that in a period when the forces of tyranny were mobilizing for the extermination of liberty and democracy everywhere, when a mistaken policy of 'appeasement' was stocking the arsenals of despotism, and when in many high social, and some political, circles, fascism was a fad and democracy anathema, he [Dodd] stood foursquare for our democratic way of life, fought the good fight and kept the faith, and when death touched him his flag was flying still."
                 -Claude Bowers, friend of William Dodd and ambassador to Spain and Chile

I selected this book for our Page Turners book club because it was a library book bundle (multiple copies). Also I had read another book by Erik Larsen---The Devil in the White City---that was a real page-turner. This one, not so much, though I am glad I read it. I will rate it a 4.

This nonfiction book examines William Dodd's experiences as the first ambassador to Germany after Hitler began his rise to power. His family accompanies him---wife Mattie, son Bill and daughter Martha, whose romantic escapades add much color to the story. The reader sees the events mostly through Dodd's and Martha's eyes, due to so many written records they left behind.

Larson seems to have thoroughly researched this subject as evidenced by almost 60 pages of notes, bibliography and credits. My knowledge of WWII is sketchy, at best, limited mostly to the Holocaust. I had much to learn from the reading of this book---especially about the early days of the Third Reich. The book confirmed my opinion of Hitler as evil but I never realized his reign of terror included his fellow Nazis, even friends. He reminded me of an animal that eats its young!

The subtitle of In the Garden of Beasts---Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin---was somewhat puzzling. I didn't see that much love and only half the family was featured. You can bet there was terror aplenty!

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When Page Turners met to discuss the book our average rating was 3.7 with individual marks between 5 and 2. The discussion was lively, using questions from LitLovers, a favorite website. Several members agreed that Dodd, though disrespected among many in the U.S. State Department, and not well-prepared for what he faced, was a principled man. We found his frugality refreshing in light of the unjustified spending we see among politicians today. Our group thought the roles of Mattie and Bill were subjugated but realized they weren't the ones who described their experiences in writing. By using so much primary source material from Ambassador Dodd and Martha, the book offered emotional connection often lacking in nonfiction texts.

The question about why Dodd's and others' warnings about Hitler fell on indifferent ears and whether it was due to "purposeful ignorance or sheer disbelief," we thought the answer might be "yes" to both. We were reminded that the U.S. wanted loan repayment from Germany and, after WWI, was desperate to stay out of any future European conflicts. Certainly these were factors in the lack of attention by the State Department.

I think our whole group was impressed with Larson's research and most of us felt we learned much we didn't know about Hitler's early days, so it was a worthwhile read. However, we are more than ready for something light! July's book: Bossypants by Tina Fey. It should be great for some laughs.

I would love to read any comments you have about this book or others!