In the Garden of Beasts

Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

By: Erik Larson

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the best-selling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler’s rise to power.

The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.

A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first, Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany”, she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate.

As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance - and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.

Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Göring and the expectedly charming - yet wholly sinister - Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively listenable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.

©2011 Stephen Hoye (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"In this mesmerizing portrait of the Nazi capital, Larson plumbs a far more diabolical urban cauldron than in his bestselling The Devil in the White City... a vivid, atmospheric panorama of the Third Reich and its leaders, including murderous Nazi factional infighting, through the accretion of small crimes and petty thuggery." ( Publishers Weekly)

"By far his best and most enthralling work of novelistic history….Powerful, poignant…a transportingly true story." ( The New York Times)

"[L]ike slipping slowly into a nightmare, with logic perverted and morality upended….It all makes for a powerful, unsettling immediacy." (Bruce Handy, Vanity Fair)

A great account of pre-WW2 Germany.

well spoken, great account of the Berlin in the 30's from the view of the US ambassador and German government officials.

Fascinating and informative

Aa always, Eric Larson's ability to make history come alive is evident in this narrative about the year Hitler came into power in Germany. Told from the prospective of the unlikely US diplomat and his daughter, the rise of the Nazi party and precursors to World War 2 is painted clearly. Loved it and learned so much. Narration by Stephen Hoye is also exceptional.

Two stories: one compelling; one trivial

This book is actually two stories. One is about the experiences of the rather ineffectual American ambassador to Germany at the rise of Hitler's regime. This story offers a well written eye-witness narrative of the daily outrages suffered by citizens and visitors alike in pre-war Germany. The environment of hysteria and mistrust and ever-increasing anti-Semitism that gripped Germany following Hitler's rise is presented in chilling and effective detail.

The other part of the book concerns the ambassador's sexually adventurous daughter who seems to have slept with half the diplomatic core and not a few senior Nazi officials as well. While her slow conversion from infatuated defender to horrified critic of the "new" Germany is interesting, it is trivial by comparison to the import of the larger issues the book addresses, yet almost half the book is about her experiences. Her obsession with describing and evaluating the physical appearance of each person she encounters reads like a superficial Victorian novel and I question the auther's decision to go into long details about the overwrought love letters she exchanged with various men. Eventually, I found the passages about the daughter so irritating that I fast forwarded through them so I could get back to the larger goings on between the US and Germany and within the German government.

On the whole it's an interesting book that gives the reader a very good sense of what life was like for the priviliged few of Germany and the diplomatic core trying to restrain the worst excesses of the Hitler's government .

Fascinating piece of history

An up-close look at how Hitler came to power from the perspective of the U.S. ambassador to Germany and his attractive and somewhat promiscuous daughter. Very entertaining and "readable."

longer than needed

good story but man was it a bit longer than it needed to be. Even at 1.6x it was a slog after chapter 22.

I like the author the material is somewhat chilling given recent events but way way too long.

Good story, lacks depth after 1935

First, the narration: it was a bit overly dramatic. I enjoy the characterizations while “speaking” as others, but it was a bit of an annoyance.

As for the story: there is a DEEP focus on the daughter and her tale. This is interesting, but I didn’t think it would consume so much of the book.

The book also speeds through the last several years after going in tedious detail in the front 1.5 years.

I chose this boom because someone recommended Erik Larson to me. I will love to another because this was well written - but this wasn’t the greatest.

Perspective is everything

From our vantage point looking back 70+ years, its easy to see from this book how the churn of the Nazi party moved on relentlessly. Obvious situations were dismissed when interventions could have changed the course of history. This work of non-fiction mercilessly shows the reader all the "what if's" that could have prevented, or maybe just forestalled another world war. It reveals the state department of that day as the run by dilettantes who were more interested in status than diplomacy. But it is non-fiction, and can be a tedious listen. I'm glad I hung in there. I will be connecting it to Ken Follett's new saga, Fall of Giants.

Good, not great

I really enjoyed Larson's "Devil in the White City," so I was looking forward to this book about the American Ambassador to Germany during Hitler's rise to power. Sadly, I did not enjoy this book as much as the previous one. Describing the Dodd family, their life prior to going to Germany and their experiences in Germany was an effective tool to help this post-boomer adult to better understand Hitler's rise to power and how his anti-Jew actions were often explained away at the time, even though we look back at them now in horror.

At times I found the story telling disjointed and difficult to follow. There was such a large cast of characters that keeping them straight was difficult.

This book is good, not great, and I will still be interested in seeing what Larson writes next.

A Dry Listen, but Boatloads of Info

What made the experience of listening to In the Garden of Beasts the most enjoyable?

The volume of information in the book.

What did you like best about this story?

It's difficult to like this story. From the beginning, one feels frustrated at the family's admiration and affection for the Nazi elite; irritated at their inability to see the evil around them. But as the story goes on, the listener develops a grudging sympathy for Ambassador Dodd, who finally can see the evil represented by the Nazis, but is prevented from doing anything about it. The characters are not likeable. Dodd is self-important and feels himself smarter than others. Martha is only concerned with her own amusement both physically and mentally. Mrs. Dodd is almost irrelevant. And most of the rest are American diplomats and politicians who are ambivalent at best about the state of Germany, or, well, Nazis. At times, it's a difficult listen.

But it is well worth it for the sheer volume of information in the book. This is a behind-the-scenes look at Germany at the beginning of the Third Reich. One encounters Goebbels, Goering, Hitler, and others, through the eyes of Americans in Germany at the time. One sees how the rest of the world simply turned away as the monster grew. While valuable solely as a record of those days, it also has value as a cautionary tale in that it illuminates all the warning signs that herald an evil regime.

What does Stephen Hoye bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I found his voice a little dry, but given the story, it is a bit of a challenge to keep it animated.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It is very frustrating at times, as Martha is so shallow as to make the listener exclaim their disgust. It's also frustrating to witness the family's blindness to what we know is coming.

A chilling account of the early days

Thoroughly enjoyed but you really have to pay attention with all the names and subjects being talked about if you want to be a scholar on the subject. I did not do this and it all feel into place.