Post by jgaffney on Jun 1, 2011 21:15:59 GMT -5
I'm 3/4ths of the way through the new book by Erik Larson, In The Garden of Beasts. Larson's previous work included Devil In The White City, an account of a serial killer working in Chicago during the World's Fair in 1893. Mr. Larson is very good at historical research and semi-fictional accounts.
This new book is the story of the American ambassador to Germany in 1933. A history professor is recruited to be FDR's ambassador to Germany just as Hitler is coming to power. The ambassador, an academic instead of a diplomat, is torn between his mission to maintain relations with Germany, securing the repayment of Germany's crushing World War I debt, and the atrocities he sees every day being perpetrated by the Storm Troopers (the SA brownshirts) and the SS. To make matters worse, his 26-year-old daughter, a very attractive young woman, is sleeping her way through the Nazi Party in Berlin.
I picked up the hardcover at Costco for less than 20 bucks because the waiting list at the library is too long and because my brother will read it next.
This new book is the story of the American ambassador to Germany in 1933. A history professor is recruited to be FDR's ambassador to Germany just as Hitler is coming to power. The ambassador, an academic instead of a diplomat, is torn between his mission to maintain relations with Germany, securing the repayment of Germany's crushing World War I debt, and the atrocities he sees every day being perpetrated by the Storm Troopers (the SA brownshirts) and the SS. To make matters worse, his 26-year-old daughter, a very attractive young woman, is sleeping her way through the Nazi Party in Berlin.
I picked up the hardcover at Costco for less than 20 bucks because the waiting list at the library is too long and because my brother will read it next.