- In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson was published May 10, 2011
- Publisher: Crown
- 464 pages
"After experiencing life in Nazi Germany, Thomas Wolfe wrote, 'Here was an entire nation...infested with the contagion of an ever-present fear. It was a kind of creeping paralysis which twisted and blighted all human relations.'" (pg. 223)
In Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts, we see the story of the rise of Nazi Germany through the eyes of William Dodd, a professor from the University of Chicago, who is chosen by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to be the American Ambassador to this once proud nation. At the time, Hindenburg was still president of Germany and Adolf Hitler was his Chancellor. Along with Dodd for the journey are his wife, son and flirtatious daughter, Martha, who at first finds a certain appeal with Nazi Germany (and many of its officers) only to learn the truth of how naïve and foolish her romantic ideas of the Third Reich really are.
"A popular metaphor used at the time to describe the atmosphere in Berlin was that of an approaching thunderstorm - that sense of charged and suspended air." (pg. 264)
In the diplomacy realm, Ambassador Dodd is a bit out of his element, though he shows thoughtfulness and a desire to do his job well. However, he is constantly being criticized for his homely transportation and living arrangements by Americans and Germans alike. His infightings with people in Roosevelt’s camp are a mirror of Germany's leader's suspicion and lack of trust between the army, Gestapo and SA. Even as Dodd finds "small victories" in his diplomacy with the leaders of these organizations, he begins to realize that Hitler is gaining power and does not have peace as his final goal. Because of his self-described view of himself as a "Jeffersonian Democrat," Dodd flimsily fluctuates on how to advise the U.S. to deal with the blooming tensions in Germany. And because of his poor relationship with many in Roosevelt’s camp, the U.S. government acts poorly disinterested in both Dodd and the "German Menace."
The book closes with "The Night of Long Knives," the coup staged by Hitler as he got rid of Rohm and a lot of other political enemies. Only then does Dodd, finally shocked by the violence and the revelation that Hitler desires world-power, begin to speak out firmly against the Nazi regime. But by then, all the diplomatic idealists, political parties and nations can only witness the outbreak of war.
This is a masterful work of history for those interested in how the world, and in particular, the United States, was able to stand by and watch Nazi Germany be born. Larson brings a wonderful tension to even the smallest details and interactions as he pieces together the story through diaries, newspaper articles and other recorded works of the transpiring events.
Use these book club discussion questions on In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson to go deeper into the book.
