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)

very interesting perspective on the rise of Hitler

This book focuses almost entirely on the first year of Hitler's leadership of Germany, told from the perspective of some "ordinary" folks, principally the US ambassador to Germany and his 20-something daughter. The book is written beautifully, with much interweaving of such primary sources as letters, diaries and recollections (including a book written by the daughter in 1939). It also includes details on the lives of the two principals, the bumbling but well-meaning ambassador & his fights with the snobby suits at the State Department. And the loves and partying of the daughter. I thought the book was very well narrated too.

When the Good do Nothing

The rise of Hitler comes to eerie life in this book. We have all heard the story many times, this time it’s told from the point of view of the US ambassador to Berlin and his infuriating family. I found the story fascinating and profoundly sad. It makes you want to reach through history and shake some sense into the myopic world leaders who left that nice Mr. Hitler to his own devices. As a read, it’s not as compelling as the devil in the White City, but it’s pretty good none the less. Anyone interested in WW2 or the historical background to the holocaust will find it fascinating. Many readers will find it a sobering and vivid example of the adage ‘for evil to triumph all that is needed is that the good do nothing’

Engrossing!

The book is interesting, the reader is clear and makes the story come alive, and this compelling account of the US Ambassador to Germany and his family in the early 1930's makes history easy to absorb. Although the book is about Nazi Germany and how our diplomats dealt with (or didn't deal with) the rise of Hitler, the topics of tolerance, religious freedom, one-party government and abuse of power provide thought-provoking echos in terms of current events.

Historical and Entertaining

Erik Larson is the master at making history entertaining. His audiobooks always seem to convey the feeling of the book so masterfully. If you like history combined with storytelling than this is the book for you.

Excellent book. Mediocre narrator.

Erik Larson is one of my favorite authors. This book is well-written and compelling, as are all of his books. He writes masterfully about the tendency of humans to display hubris and to be in denial in the face of danger or evil. This book is a particularly timely one, given our current national situation. I have listened to several of Larson's other books, including Devil in the White City, read by the masterful Scott Brick. I have read several other of the reviews of this audiobook, and no one mentions disliking the narrator, but I found his cadence to be "sing-songy," and his voice rather "wooden." He has a good enough voice, but in my opinion, doesn't know how to use it, in comparison to many other narrators. I found myself having to listen very closely and even replay sections, even when I was sitting and doing nothing but listening to the book, and I realized that it was because he wasn't bringing life to the words like many narrators do. I persisted with the book, but the narration really took away from my enjoyment of the book.

The ignorance that killed millions

What a shame that the United States, as well as the rest of the democratic world showed such ignorance towards Germany in those formative years. Ambassador Dodd's story is one that should not only be shouted from the mountaintops, but more importantly, heard in the valleys.

Not my style

The title of the book itself is what caught my interest. I did not look into it further. I bought it thinking it was historical fiction. anyways, I can appreciate the amount of effort and research done for this book. It has some interesting statistics and information. About 40% of this book is discussing 1933, then another 40% discusses 1934 then it begins to leap year to year for the remaining percentage. I bought the hard copy and while it was nice to have the footnotes and some pictures. I'm not sure I would have finished this book without the audio version.

What an amazing story!

What an interesting story that I had never heard before. I have purchased and read/listened to many WWII books and this one offers a very unique perspective. The only complaint that I had was that the reader was very measured and slow. I was excited when I just got the updated audible software and I was able to listen to it at 1.5x speed. This helped a lot and made the story that much better.

Fascinating and terrifying story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a very important part of history. The storytelling is captivating. The author weaves a web of insanity that makes the book hard to turn away from.

The dawn of the Nazi era in frightening detail

Would you listen to In the Garden of Beasts again? Why?

It's a compelling narrative that has parallels to what's occurring in the US today. It was difficult for the players in this book to believe what was happening in Germany during the 1930s, just as it's difficult for many of us to see the US bend towards intolerance.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I can't say I had a favorite character but the dispatches and observations of George Messersmith were so dead-on that I kept thinking to myself, "Why doesn't Dodd see what Messersmith sees?!"

Have you listened to any of Stephen Hoye’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't had the pleasure of listening to other performances by Hoye, but I will seek them out. He has a superb voice for this type of work and I really enjoyed this performance.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I think the title of the book says it all.

Any additional comments?

I read this book years ago and decided to re-familiarize myself with it by listening to the audiobook and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. I believe that enjoyment came mostly from Stephen Hoye's wonderful performance.