In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

It seems that I've hit a bit of a reading roadblock lately. As my husband and I prepare to move across the country, I'm finding it hard to keep my mind on a book and stick to a reading schedule. Resigning from my current job, working on obtaining certification in Connecticut, and saying goodbye to all my friends and family is weighing on me right now. I usually find comfort in reading, but my mind has been racing a mile and minute this month and I'm struggling to focus.

Despite my worries, I've finally managed to finish something this week. I'd been wanting to read In the Garden of Beasts for a while now, and with my push to read more nonfiction this year, I thought it was the right time. I read The Devil in the White City, another of Larson's nonfiction novels, a few months ago and enjoyed it, so I went into this one expecting a similar experience - nonfiction that reads like fiction. In this, I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed.

The plot concerns William E. Dodd, the American ambassador to Berlin in 1933. As the first United States ambassador to Hitler's Germany, he was in a unique position to watch the evolution of the Nazi regime - a government that many people hoped would help pull Germany out of an economic depression and get them back on the right track after WWI. He brought his family along to Berlin with him, and his own recorded experiences, along with those of his daughter Martha, form the basis of the story.

Initially, the family expected to enjoy a grand adventure. Germany at this time was an optimistic and stylish place, and most people assumed that Hitler's government would either fall apart in short order or become more moderate over time. As the Dodd family settled into their new home, their experiences seemed to support this view. Berlin felt like a normal city. However, as Hitler began to consolidate his power, things started to change. Dodd and his daughter became increasingly uncomfortable as they witnessed the growing brutality of the Nazis. Beatings, arrests, suppression of the press, and executions became the order of the day. Despite his best efforts, Dodd was never able to use his position as a diplomat to temper Hitler's government, and his reports back to the United States contained dire warnings about Germany's intentions. President Roosevelt, however, refused to act on this information. He was under intense political pressure to stay out of the affairs of foreign nations and to avoid taking any actions that might cause Germany to default on their loans from the U.S. Eventually, Dodd was removed from his position as ambassador for refusing to be more conciliatory towards Nazi officials, whom he came to view as murderers. He returned with his family to the United States, where he worked steadily to educate the population about what Nazi Germany was really like.

This novel was fascinating and a little infuriating. Its fascination came from the treasure trove of interesting information about how the Nazis were able to rise to power. I didn't know much about this time period beyond the basics you learn about WWII in high school, so I learned a lot while reading. It's clear that Larson did quality, meticulous research in putting this book together, with diary entries and letters from many different people filling out authentic details about the time period. The chapters shift between Dodd's perspective and his daughter Martha's perspective, which provides a nice blend of official, government-style information with more casual, personal-style observations. The story was consistently interesting, which made the reading go relatively quickly.

The infuriating aspect of the book lay in watching so many world leaders stand by doing nothing while Hitler rose to power. What this story proves is that Hitler's government was anything but solid. Paranoia, lies, disorganization, confusion, and sabotage were commonplace. These were not people who had a clear vision and a strategic plan in place from the beginning. The intervention of the United States, or another European nation, could have easily changed the course of history had it come early enough. It was frustrating to see the inaction of other countries, who favored a "let's just cross our fingers and hope its okay" approach rather than standing up for the rights of the oppressed in Germany. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but leaders were given warnings from figures like Dodd while the Nazis were gaining strength, and those warnings were brushed aside. It's a shame. I look at history a little differently now after reading this.

Of course, the parallels between what was going on in Germany and what is going on politically in the U.S. right now were impossible to ignore. We too have a leader who is actively trying to suppress the press and is prone to emotional outbursts. We too have a leader who inspires a fanatical following that believes everything he says, no matter how obviously untrue. We too have a leader that is obsessed with keeping "undesirables" out of his country. While it seems outrageous to suggest anything close to the Holocaust could happen here, we must remember that no one in Germany thought that about Hitler either, and the inaction of those people led to tragedy on an unfathomable scale. It's kind of scary to think about what could come next.

I very much enjoyed In the Garden of Beasts, and would encourage anyone interested in the history of WWII to pick it up. It focuses in on a part of the war that isn't often talked about and answers questions about how someone like Hitler was able to rise to power in a modern, civilized country. This one made a deep impression on me and any book that helps to challenge the way you think about the world is worth a read.


Challenge Tally:
True Books 2018: 8/18 + 2 bonus books
Clear the Shelves 2018: 11 books donated


Total Books Read in 2018: 21