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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
This was an impressive work of non-fiction that provided a behind-the-scenes view of what life was like for the American ambassador to Germany (and his family) during the Nazis' rise to power. The plot focused mainly on Ambassador Dodd and his daughter, Martha Dodd, a professional flirt and then writer. Though I didn't particularly like either of them, I found their lives fascinating and often wondered what I would have done differently had I been in their situations.
It was interesting to read about Nazi officials through the lens of high-society gatherings and secret affairs (I've never before read of Diels - the first Gestapo commander - through the lens of an American lover. He is characterized as one of the least rabid Nazis, with moral scruples that ultimately led to his death.) It was likewise interesting to read about KGB's watchful eyes during Hitler's ascension to absolute power (the second great love of Martha Dodd's life - Soviet Union Boris). I honestly don't understand why Martha was so cavalier with her romantic interests in general; did she not understand that as the U.S. ambassador's daughter, there would be plenty of people after her for reasons beyond mere attraction? Or did she know and not care?
As for Dodd, the man was fighting a losing war from the beginning. I knew beforehand that the United States was reluctant to join WW2 even at its height in Europe, so it didn't surprise me that the plight of the persecuted German Jews was not enough for the U.S. to take a bolder position prior to the war's onset. There was once even a Hitler Youth group formed within the U.S.! If I took anything away from the sections on ambassador Dodd himself, it would be the following:
- To the U.S. (and many other governments), the threat of lost money speaks louder than the threat of lost lives.
- It's shameful that the U.S. hesitated to condemn the Nazi persecution of Jews, because it feared that the Nazis would return with propaganda about how African Americans were treated.
- The Nazis did not assume power in a vacuum. The silence and/or fear of millions allowed Hitler to rule absolute. Hitler went as far as he did, not because he managed to carry out atrocities despite intervention, but because there was none.
This is not a feel-good book. It's filled with dread and apprehension. It's like falling down the rabbit hole into a wonderland filled with spies, murderers, and maniacs. At times the book became dry. At other times, I couldn't put it down. Above all, this was a well-researched and well-crafted piece of historical literature and no doubt an invaluable reference tool for those that want to know what the political atmosphere of 1933-1934 Germany.
It was interesting to read about Nazi officials through the lens of high-society gatherings and secret affairs (I've never before read of Diels - the first Gestapo commander - through the lens of an American lover. He is characterized as one of the least rabid Nazis, with moral scruples that ultimately led to his death.) It was likewise interesting to read about KGB's watchful eyes during Hitler's ascension to absolute power (the second great love of Martha Dodd's life - Soviet Union Boris). I honestly don't understand why Martha was so cavalier with her romantic interests in general; did she not understand that as the U.S. ambassador's daughter, there would be plenty of people after her for reasons beyond mere attraction? Or did she know and not care?
As for Dodd, the man was fighting a losing war from the beginning. I knew beforehand that the United States was reluctant to join WW2 even at its height in Europe, so it didn't surprise me that the plight of the persecuted German Jews was not enough for the U.S. to take a bolder position prior to the war's onset. There was once even a Hitler Youth group formed within the U.S.! If I took anything away from the sections on ambassador Dodd himself, it would be the following:
- To the U.S. (and many other governments), the threat of lost money speaks louder than the threat of lost lives.
- It's shameful that the U.S. hesitated to condemn the Nazi persecution of Jews, because it feared that the Nazis would return with propaganda about how African Americans were treated.
- The Nazis did not assume power in a vacuum. The silence and/or fear of millions allowed Hitler to rule absolute. Hitler went as far as he did, not because he managed to carry out atrocities despite intervention, but because there was none.
This is not a feel-good book. It's filled with dread and apprehension. It's like falling down the rabbit hole into a wonderland filled with spies, murderers, and maniacs. At times the book became dry. At other times, I couldn't put it down. Above all, this was a well-researched and well-crafted piece of historical literature and no doubt an invaluable reference tool for those that want to know what the political atmosphere of 1933-1934 Germany.
medium-paced
"The world seems in such a mess now, I don't know what will happen. Too bad that maniac was allowed to go his way so long uncurbed. We may be, sooner or later, involved, God forbid."
It may be somewhat surprising that this quote is not contemporary to now... It was, of course, written about the state of the world pre-World War II by Mattie Dodd, whose husband was the American ambassador to Berlin from 1933 to 1937. The maniac to whom she refers, utterly unsurprisingly, is Adolf Hitler. The fact that this quote could come from the modern day is part of what makes In the Garden of Beasts so enthrallingly terrifying.
"As a historian, he (Dodd) had come to view the world as the product of historical forces and the decisions of more or less rational people, and he expected the men around him to behave in a civil and coherent manner. But Hitler's government was neither civil nor coherent, and the nation lurched from one inexplicable moment to another."
This is one of the books that so effectively lands you in the centre of horror that it's entirely uncomfortable to read. That Larson does so while running you through all the alarms Nazi Germany was setting off that the rest of the world ignored makes it entirely necessary to read.
"They spread terror. That is a wholesome thing." - Rudolf Diels, head of the Gestapo when he becomes American ambassador Dodd's daughter Martha's lover
Here, Larson essentially flawlessly strings together acres of source material and somehow makes sense of how atrocities and persecution were allowed to prevail - largely with the help of warped logic, preexisting prejudices (most notably, of course, antisemitism), and plain terror. He highlights this particular all-too-familiar and toxic concoction with his own commentary, explanations, and descriptions - they serve as a very well-written connective tissue that gives compelling narrative structure to a lively and sickening history.
"The uninvited guest was fear, and it haunted the gathering."
The story of American ambassador William E. Dodd that Beasts follows is devastating in retrospect and discouraging in the modern context. In many ways, he is the ambassador the United States needed in Germany at the time. He was diplomatic, but committed enough to his morals to not allow himself to be bowled over. Reading as he realizes in horror what he is truly dealing with, and then again and again tries to warn his colleagues back home only to be undercut because of snobbery, prejudice, and the all too common priority of debt over human life is so, so frustrating.
"Dodd had been struck again by the strange indifference to atrocity that had settled over the nation, the willingness of the populace and of the moderate elements in the government to accept each new oppressive decree, each new act of violence, without protest. It was as if he had entered the dark forest of a fairy tale where all the rules of right and wrong were upended."
Faced with an ambassador forced into "the delicate work of watching and carefully doing nothing," you eventually just feel grateful on his behalf that he was out of Germany before he had to watch Kristallnacht happen first-hand. Which... well... what an awful thing to find yourself feeling grateful for.
This brings me to my warning for reading this book: despite its strong moral centre, this book very aptly brings you into a prewar 1930s version of common sense. Read this book, absolutely, but read carefully. A saving grace in this world is a terror in another. A good man in this book is often a brutal man, even a war criminal. It took more than 13 years and more than 6 million innocent lives to stop Adolf Hitler - Erik Larson will make you understand why. And it won't be comfortable.
George S. Messersmith, at the time US Consul General for Berlin: "There are so many pathological cases involved that it would be impossible to tell from day to day what will happen any more than the keeper of a madhouse is able to tell what his inmates will do in the next hour or during the next day."
It may be somewhat surprising that this quote is not contemporary to now... It was, of course, written about the state of the world pre-World War II by Mattie Dodd, whose husband was the American ambassador to Berlin from 1933 to 1937. The maniac to whom she refers, utterly unsurprisingly, is Adolf Hitler. The fact that this quote could come from the modern day is part of what makes In the Garden of Beasts so enthrallingly terrifying.
"As a historian, he (Dodd) had come to view the world as the product of historical forces and the decisions of more or less rational people, and he expected the men around him to behave in a civil and coherent manner. But Hitler's government was neither civil nor coherent, and the nation lurched from one inexplicable moment to another."
This is one of the books that so effectively lands you in the centre of horror that it's entirely uncomfortable to read. That Larson does so while running you through all the alarms Nazi Germany was setting off that the rest of the world ignored makes it entirely necessary to read.
"They spread terror. That is a wholesome thing." - Rudolf Diels, head of the Gestapo when he becomes American ambassador Dodd's daughter Martha's lover
Here, Larson essentially flawlessly strings together acres of source material and somehow makes sense of how atrocities and persecution were allowed to prevail - largely with the help of warped logic, preexisting prejudices (most notably, of course, antisemitism), and plain terror. He highlights this particular all-too-familiar and toxic concoction with his own commentary, explanations, and descriptions - they serve as a very well-written connective tissue that gives compelling narrative structure to a lively and sickening history.
"The uninvited guest was fear, and it haunted the gathering."
The story of American ambassador William E. Dodd that Beasts follows is devastating in retrospect and discouraging in the modern context. In many ways, he is the ambassador the United States needed in Germany at the time. He was diplomatic, but committed enough to his morals to not allow himself to be bowled over. Reading as he realizes in horror what he is truly dealing with, and then again and again tries to warn his colleagues back home only to be undercut because of snobbery, prejudice, and the all too common priority of debt over human life is so, so frustrating.
"Dodd had been struck again by the strange indifference to atrocity that had settled over the nation, the willingness of the populace and of the moderate elements in the government to accept each new oppressive decree, each new act of violence, without protest. It was as if he had entered the dark forest of a fairy tale where all the rules of right and wrong were upended."
Faced with an ambassador forced into "the delicate work of watching and carefully doing nothing," you eventually just feel grateful on his behalf that he was out of Germany before he had to watch Kristallnacht happen first-hand. Which... well... what an awful thing to find yourself feeling grateful for.
This brings me to my warning for reading this book: despite its strong moral centre, this book very aptly brings you into a prewar 1930s version of common sense. Read this book, absolutely, but read carefully. A saving grace in this world is a terror in another. A good man in this book is often a brutal man, even a war criminal. It took more than 13 years and more than 6 million innocent lives to stop Adolf Hitler - Erik Larson will make you understand why. And it won't be comfortable.
George S. Messersmith, at the time US Consul General for Berlin: "There are so many pathological cases involved that it would be impossible to tell from day to day what will happen any more than the keeper of a madhouse is able to tell what his inmates will do in the next hour or during the next day."
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
A fascinating and informative view of Berlin during the rise of Hitler. The American Ambassador is a history professor/farmer and his newly divorced daughter is on a mission to get to know every interesting man on either side of the divide. Erik Larson is a master investigator and story teller.
Did not finish - it was due back at the library with others waiting and honestly the story was very interesting but it wasn't moving along fast enough so I gave up.
A very interesting book about the U.S ambassador to Germany during the 1930s as Hitler was building up his army. This was a fascinating view of Germany from an outsider, and Dodd's daughter Martha was quite the entertaining and scandalous gal to interject some drama. I found it very interesting, but I listened to the audio book, and the narrator was rather dry. I will definitely read Larson's other books, because he does such an excellent job of research and brings a personal tie to the story.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Painful to read - informative, personalized, and shocking.