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

IntheGardenofBeastsisavividportraitofBerlinduringthefirstyearsofHitler’sreign,broughttolifethroughthestoriesoftwopeople:WilliamE.Dodd,whoin1933becameAmerica’sfirstambassadortoHitler’sregime,andhisscandalouslycarefreedaughter,Martha.AmbassadorDodd,anunassumingandscholarlyman,isanoddfitamongtheextravaganceoftheNazielite.HisfrugalityannoyshisfellowAmericansintheStateDepartmentandDodd’sgrowingmisgivingsaboutHitler’sambitionsfallondeafearsamonghispeers,whoarecontentto“giveHitlereverythinghewants.”Martha,ontheotherhand,ismesmerizedbytheglamorouspartiesandthehigh-mindedconversationofBerlin’ssalonsociety—andflingsherselfheadlongintonumerousaffairswiththecity’selite,mostnotablytheheadoftheGestapoandaSovietspy.Bothbecomeplayersintheexhilarating(andterrifying)storyofHitler’sobsessionforabsolutepower,whichculminatesintheeventsofonemurderousnight,laterknownas“theNightofLongKnives.”TheriseofNaziGermanyisawell-chronicledtimeinhistory,whichmakesIntheGardenofBeastsallthemoreremarkable.