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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Another one I just couldn't get through (made it to page 200 out of 370). I didn't hate it, but I certainly wasn't riveted like I was by "devil in the white city." Despite its depiction of a very interesting and horrifying place and time period, the story wasn't told very compellingly or cohesively. Also I would have loved a list of "characters" tat the beginning so I could have kept track of what was who more easily.
This was an interesting look at history and the work of an ambassador. Note to all future ambassadors: it's probably best to leave promiscuous adult children who have Communist leanings at home in the United States. While reading this book, I wanted to scream at all the players for not doing everything they could to stop Hitlerism before it was too late.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Very well written. I have always enjoyed reading books that are non-fiction based in the 1930s. Following Ambassador Dodd and his family through Hitler’s Berlin was adventurous. I loved the fact that the author hinted at the fact that the Nazis were treating the Jews poorly, but never went into detail. It really opens your mind at what happened back then.
This was not as compelling as Devil in the White City, but that's probably because I grew up in Chicago. However, it was an interesting look at an American family in Nazi Germany.
Slow start, but picks up steadily towards the middle. I guess it's sort of a good parallel to the Hitler regime in Germany: begins with a sense of normalcy, even promise of peace, but as Germany and Berlin, the focus locale of the book, slowly grow into a terrifying dictator-state, it doesn't really sink in until the end how everyone in the world was truly in denial about the rise of the third reich. Terrifying and eye-opening. I enjoyed Devil in the White City a bit more, but that's probably because of the content of the book.
I felt that the book started out strong. The narrative isn't particularly hard to parse, and Larson is good at making his scholarly historical facts sound interesting. However, the book slowed to a near halt halfway through, and became mired down due to Larson failing to contextualize the events with things happening in America, things happening elsewhere in the world, and the larger scope of Germany gearing up to wage war on the rest of the world.
In particular the lack of context and the uneven timeline (Larson was surprisingly oblique about when things were happening at times) made the middle third of the book difficult and the final third confusing.
That said, I thought the social and cultural exploration of Germany just after Hitler came to power was interesting, and I thought the presentation of the period through American eyes was well thought out. Through the juxtaposition of Martha Dodd and her father, Ambassador William Dodd, the reader is presented with both the popular opinion--that Germany was just stretching it's wings and things weren't as bad as the fearmongers tried to make you think--and the more informed, accurate opinion that came through understanding and following the politics and politicking of the Nazi party.
I don't know that I'd recommend the book, due to it's incomprehensibility after the midway point, but I do think students of the era might be interested, and should at least page through it.
In particular the lack of context and the uneven timeline (Larson was surprisingly oblique about when things were happening at times) made the middle third of the book difficult and the final third confusing.
That said, I thought the social and cultural exploration of Germany just after Hitler came to power was interesting, and I thought the presentation of the period through American eyes was well thought out. Through the juxtaposition of Martha Dodd and her father, Ambassador William Dodd, the reader is presented with both the popular opinion--that Germany was just stretching it's wings and things weren't as bad as the fearmongers tried to make you think--and the more informed, accurate opinion that came through understanding and following the politics and politicking of the Nazi party.
I don't know that I'd recommend the book, due to it's incomprehensibility after the midway point, but I do think students of the era might be interested, and should at least page through it.
Erik Larson single-handedly inspires me to read more history books. Also reading this book right before I went to Berlin probably had at LEAST a 20% effect on my enjoyment of experiencing that city. Yay!
Nowhere near as gripping as devil in the white city. Ultimately false flat, despite ostensibly interesting subject matter.
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
Really enjoyed this book, it was nonfiction but read like a fiction book. Interesting to read during today’s current political climate. Always a fan of Larson’s style.