In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror,&an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin — Interesting look at the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany , by madriver (Franklin, MA) , July 4 2011

I gave this book 3 stars because it sometimes dragged with all the detail, but at other times I found it hard to put down, especially the last third. Overall, I enjoyed it and learned things about both the US and Germany in the years prior to WWII.
For example, while I knew a little about the US in the 30s, I was unaware of the extent of the isolationist movement and the attitude towards Jewish refugees, and Jewish Americans for that matter. It seemed that for some in our government, the problem with Hitler was not so much that he was excluding Jews from society (they were fine with that), but that he was doing so in such a systematic and brutal fashion. I had never heard of Ambassador Dodd or his apparently infamous daughter, but appreciated viewing that era through their eyes. Dodd, by not being wealthy in his own right, did the society-thing as needed rather than as a ‘normal’ activity (unlike other ambassadors), and that gave him the distance and insight to look behind the Germans’ social faces, sensing something darker. Martha was the social butterfly, meeting, befriending and having affairs with Nazis and an NKVD operative. Their different perspectives were interesting.I recommend that book to anyone interested in history, particularly the Hitler/Nazi time. But it is NOT a beach read – more of a quiet evening in a comfortable chair book.

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