Germany Under Hitler

Erik Larson is a great storyteller. His novel, The Devil in the White City tells an interesting tale of murder during the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. Not only are we treated to a detective story, but also a history lesson in what Chicago did to create their vision of a “White City” for the World’s Fair, trying hard to one-up the Eiffel Tower of the World’s Fair in Paris, 1889. His latest book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin takes the reader into the home of the American Ambassador called to Berlin by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Professor William E. Dodd. Dodd took his role seriously; he really believed he could influence the Germans away from their own destiny. He brought to Berlin his wife, daughter and son. Much of the story tells of the escapades of his daughter, Martha, a soon to be divorcée, who charmed many of the men she met in Berlin, including a Russian diplomat, Boris Winogradov. Naïve Martha didn’t curb her own eccentric tastes when she spent the years in Berlin bringing all sorts of interesting types to the home of the ambassador. At one point she was almost recruited to spy for Russia through her association with Boris. Dodd was ineffectual at collecting debts from the Germans, or curbing their interest in eliminating the Jews. He tried to influence the Germans when their police made attacks on Americans for not giving the Heil Hitler salute, but even that was difficult. He was eventually called back to America by December 1937, after Roosevelt was pressured to replace him. An interesting chapter in American history of a man with principles, willing to see Germany for the real threat that she was to world peace.