In the Garden of Beasts
2 journalers for this copy...
"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 surprisingly 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."
I read this a few years ago. Just my type of book.
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 surprisingly 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."
I read this a few years ago. Just my type of book.
You grabbed this form the Lauseen mitalla-bag, enjoy!
The book arrived today, looks like an interesting read. Thanks, slipperbunny!
This was an surprisingly interesting read. It gave a little different perspective to Nazi Germany as it was looked with the eyes of a foreign diplomat and his daughter. The story happened in 1930's but it was also very current; there was so much similarities with the current situation with the war in Ukraine. Sometimes it felt like you could have changed Hitler to Putin and it would have been the same. The foreign diplomats were convinced that Hitler can't stay in power after all the heinous acts he did. They also tried diplomacy to the last bitter day when all hope was lost with Germany invading Poland. It seems that people learn nothing from history and they just repeat the same mistakes, no matter how much information is available.