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

Larson is a marvelous writer...superb at creating characters with a few short strokes.—New York Times Book Review  Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitlers rise to power. The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes Americas first ambassador to Hitlers 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.