It’s not always the
easiest task to review a work of nonfiction. While with fiction, the reviewer
can concentrate on how interesting the characters and plot developments are,
she can’t do that with nonfiction. Every word Larson writes is true and well
researched using a plethora of sources. In
the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin
tells the story of an American ambassador who was one of the only ones who
recognized the unprecedented danger of the Fuhrer. When he tried to tell his
colleagues back home as well as President Roosevelt, he wasn’t taken seriously
enough for the terrible damage to be contained.
Ask almost anyone if they
have ever heard of William Dodd, and chances are, they will look at you with a
blank stare. But he was a very important historical figure, acting as the
American ambassador to Germany during the rise of the Nazi regime. Larson tells
the story of Dodd’s surprising ascent to the role, like a fish out of water,
and the family’s eventual move to Berlin. Once there, the reader is taken
deeply into the terrifying regime, where names like Hitler, Goebbels, Goring,
Himmler, and Diels made their unfathomable marks in history. Today in the
modern day, one cannot understand why things weren’t done to overthrow the
government and deal with the unimaginable injustices, but Larson explores why
many German people and foreign leaders just accepted the status quo…some even
going so far as to glorify Hitler.
The best nonfiction books
delve thoroughly into the subject matter without disrespecting their subjects.
Larson does a masterful job at this, never spoon feeding his readers or mincing
words. This is a story that deserves to be told, and the author does a masterful
job at it.
