In The Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson

In the Garden of Beasts:  Love, Terror, and American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson is a book that I decided to read simply because I've found Erik Larson's other books (Isaac's Storm and The Devil in the White City) really compelling reads.

Started: 8/2/2013
Completed: 8/10/2013
Recommendation: Looking at the Nazi's is hard, but if you can take it in general, this is a pretty darn good book
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a look at Nazi Germany through the eyes of the unusual American Diplomat.  Dodd was a historian and teacher in his 60s who was sent by FDR to Germany as Hitler rose in power.  His initial predilections were pro-German based largely on time in his youth spend studying there.  He slowly came to understand the horror of the Nazi government and came to despise them.  Travelling with him is his wife and two children (both adults).  His daughter is a socialite who has many indelicate moments with a wide variety of men of many different nationalities.  Using largely original material, Larson reconstructs what life was like for the Dodds and takes us along for the journey.  It is an odd way to look at Germany during this period and I really appreciated the new perspective.  It is hard to walk away from this book "liking" it.  The Nazi's taint everything they touch and this book suffers from the subject mater, not anything with the author or his approach.