''In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin'' is a 2011

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

book by Erik Larson.

Summary

Larson recounts the career of the American Ambassador to Germany, William Dodd, particularly the years 1933 to 1937 when he and his family, including his daughter

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...

, lived in Berlin. The Ambassador, who earned his Ph.D. in Leipzig 40 years earlier; and, at the time of his appointment, was head of the History Department at the University of Chicago initially hoped that Germany's new Nazi government would grow more moderate, including in its persecution of the Jews. Martha, separated from her husband and in the process of divorce, became caught up in the glamor and excitement of Berlin's social scene and had a series of liaisons, most of them sexual, including among them Gestapo head

Rudolf Diels Rudolf Diels (16 December 1900 – 18 November 1957) was a German civil servant and head of the Gestapo in 1933–34. He obtained the rank of SS-'' Oberführer'' and was a protégé of Hermann Göring. Early life Diels was born in Berghausen i ...

and Soviet attaché and secret agent Boris Vinogradov. She defended the regime to her skeptical friends. Within months of their arrival, the family became aware of the evils of Nazi rule. Dodd periodically protested against it. President

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

was pleased with Dodd's performance while most State Department officials, suspicious of his lack of background in their area of expertise, as well as his inability to finance embassy activities from his own wealth, found him undiplomatic and idiosyncratic. The title of the work is a loose translation of Tiergarten, a zoo and park in the center of Berlin. The other historical figures who appear in Larson's account include: ;American officials *

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, U.S. President * George Gordon, Counselor, U.S. Embassy in Berlin * George S. Messersmith, U.S. Consul in Berlin *

William Phillips William Phillips may refer to: Entertainment * William Phillips (editor) (1907–2002), American editor and co-founder of ''Partisan Review'' * William T. Phillips (1863–1937), American author * William Phillips (director), Canadian film-make ...

, U.S. Under Secretary of State ;German officials *

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

* Edgar Julius Jung, Papen's speechwriter * Ernst Röhm * Franz von Papen, Vice Chancellor under Hindenburg. *

Kurt von Schleicher Kurt Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann von Schleicher (; 7 April 1882 – 30 June 1934) was a German general and the last chancellor of Germany (before Adolf Hitler) during the Weimar Republic. A rival for power with Hitler, Schleicher was murdered by ...

, former Chancellor ;Journalists *

Sigrid Schultz Sigrid Schultz (January 15, 1893 – May 14, 1980) was a notable American reporter and war correspondent in an era when women were a rarity in both print and radio journalism. Working for the ''Chicago Tribune'' in the 1920s, she was the fir ...

, American reporter and Central Europe bureau chief for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' * Bella Fromm, German-Jewish diplomatic correspondent for

Ullstein Verlag The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and ''Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstein B ...

* H. V. Kaltenborn, American radio announcer *

Edgar Ansel Mowrer Edgar Ansel Mowrer (March 8, 1892 – March 2, 1977) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and writer best known for his writings on international events. Life and career Born in Bloomington, Illinois to Rufus and Nellie née Scot ...

, Berlin bureau chief of the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...

'' *

William Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...

, foreign correspondent of the ''Chicago Daily News'' ;Diplomats *

André François-Poncet André François-Poncet (13 June 1887 – 8 January 1978) was a French politician and diplomat whose post as ambassador to Germany allowed him to witness first-hand the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, and the Nazi regime's pre ...

, French ambassador to Germany * Eric Phipps, British ambassador to Germany ;Other Americans *

Mildred Fish-Harnack Mildred Elizabeth Harnack ( Fish; September 16, 1902 – February 16, 1943) was an American literary historian, translator, and member of the German resistance against the Nazi regime. After marrying Arvid Harnack, she moved to Germany in 1929, ...

, friend of Martha Dodd and American academic in Berlin * Stephen Wise, influential American rabbi ;Other Germans *

Fritz Haber Fritz Haber (; 9 December 186829 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydroge ...

Ernst Hanfstaengl Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl (; 2 February 1887 – 6 November 1975) was a German-American businessman and close friend of Adolf Hitler. He eventually fell out of favour with Hitler and defected from Nazi Germany to the United States. He lat ...

, close friend of Adolf Hitler and Martha Dodd *

Victor Klemperer Victor Klemperer (9 October 188111 February 1960) was a German scholar who also became known as a diarist. His journals, published in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the Germa ...

, diarist

Awards and honors

*2012

Chautauqua Prize The Chautauqua Prize is an annual American literary award established by the Chautauqua Institution The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New Yo ...

, shortlist *2011 Christian Science Monitor 15 Best Nonfiction Books

References

External links

NPR:Fresh Air interview with Larson about ''In the Garden of the Beasts'', May 9, 2011Presentation by Larson on ''In the Garden of the Beasts'', May 23, 2011
C-SPAN
''Q&A'' interview with Larson on ''In the Garden of the Beasts'', July 24, 2011
C-SPAN {{DEFAULTSORT:In the Garden of Beasts 2011 non-fiction books Culture in Berlin History books about Nazi Germany Crown Publishing Group books Books about diplomats