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

Read In the Garden of Beasts, the account by the U.S ambassador to Nazi Germany. The regime tolerated random street violence in the years prior to the war. It killed some of its best and brightest only because they were Jewish. The Nazi leaders lived in opulent mansions with excess riches while the German people were struggling. The only reason Germany improved economically is because it ignore the debt owed to American bankers and other foreigners.

And Hitler was an ugly little man that had a bunch of psychopaths around him, which made him even worse.

His post is full of shit, "factoring out" the Holocaust is right up there with Holocaust Denial.

Ugh, the /r/niggers and /r/whiterights are leaking.

Edit: Wrong book title.

I’m sure I’ll be downvoted in this environment for saying this, but there’s a big difference between the Nazi party who hunted and murdered millions of people and Trump and the people who voted for him. Your comment in this context is dramatic and really offensive.

edit: In case you all want to learn something more about the Nazi party and the buildup to what amounted to the Holocaust, I highly recommend that you read Erik Larson's book, In the Garden of Beasts. I think you'll gain a better sense of what the Nazi party was like building up to the war. Also -- if I'm not downvoted to oblivion, please remember that Kristallnacht's 80th anniversary is this week. If you are unfamiliar with Kristallnacht and what it meant to Nazi Germany, THIS is something I encourage you to learn about. It was one of the first outward attacks on the Jewish people by the country they lived in, called home for generations and only a generation ago, fought for in WWI.

Yea, a good and somewhat scary book to read that gives some insight into Nazi Germany and what it was like is In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-Hitlers/dp/030740885X

There was a lead up to that point though. When it happens, it won't come out of nowhere and surprise us. Before that point there were regular attacks on Jews and businesses from the SA youth who regularly held marches throughout the country.

Hell, if you didn't salute when they came by, a group at the end of the march would break off, drag you into an alley, and beat you to death. Sometimes they'd beat you in broad daylight, in front of police who would stand by and watch.

I read about these sorts of things in In The Garden of Beasts, which is actually about our Ambassador to Germany in the lead-up to World War II.

Cool Fact. The U.S. ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937, William Dodd, saw a lot of Hitlers rise to power and his changes to Germany. He saw a lot of Antisemitism, Anti-American, rise and influence of the Zazi part. His daughter even dated (maybe slept) with some members of the rurssian communist party and Nazi party. He tried to arrange a meeting with FDR and Hitler but I think the Nazi party refused. A whole book called In the Garden of The Beast was written about it.

Here is a handy wiki link about William Dodd too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dodd_(ambassador)

1. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin - Erik Larson
   
   
2. 7.5/10
   
   
3. History, Politics, Nonfiction
   
   
4. The American ambassador to Berlin arrives in Berlin in 1933, in a strange and terrifying air of antisemitism, militarism, and nationalism. Following ambassador Dodd and the family that he brought with him for his tenure in Berlin, we get a very interesting glimpse at Hitler's Germany prior to the outbreak of WWII.
   
   
   
5. Amazon

amazing book, i'm going to second the recommendation. link

the book has lots of first-hand accounts of what was going on in berlin around 1932 when the nazi party was consolidating control. lots of talk about how hitler is viewed as crazy or incompetent or not really believing what he says, but the conservatives need to support him...

Anti-semitism goes back a long way. Napoleon is sort of recognized at the first person to grant Jewish religious rights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_and_the_Jews

But with the rise of nationalism in the 19th century came racial antisemitism (rather than just the religious kind). Especially in Germany - sometimes identified as starting with Richard Wagner's weird Jewry in Music in 1869.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_antisemitism

After WWI the Jews were in part lumped in with liberals to be blamed for "stabbing in the back" the German nation state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_myth

The Nazi party in general had a faction of socialists early on who also blamed Jews for various social ills (they attributed to "capitalism") and not being part of the German nationalist solution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasserism

Eventually the Nazis started codifying these sentiments into laws in the mid 1930s.

There is a book called In the Garden of Beasts, set in 1933 and 1934 Germany when the codifying was actually taking place for the first time. It's a decent read to try and get a sense of the cultural and political environment as Jews' rights eroded.

EDIT: fixed a few spelling errors.

EDIT2: Link to book I mentioned:
http://www.amazon.com/In-Garden-Beasts-American-Hitlers/dp/030740885X

I have mostly nonfiction recommendations, but hope the following are of some use to you! I used these in my classroom in the past year with much success.

I can edit and add more fiction later when I get home, and look over my bookshelf as well.

World War II


"In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" by Erik Larsen - highly recommend, especially if you are familiar with Larsen's previous book, The Devil in White City


"The Monuments Men" by Robert M. Edsel - highly recommended, especially if you are interested in the juxtaposition of art, war, and espionage.

"Unbroken" - by Laura Hillenbrand, highly recommended. Hillenbrand's command of the language and prose coupled with the true story of Louis makes this a compelling read. Even my most reluctant readers couldn't put this done.

Vietnam War

"The Things They Carried" and "If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up, and Ship Me Home" by Tim O'Brien are quintessential war canon. Must reads.

Iraq/Afghanistan/Modern Military Operations:
"The Yellow Birds" by Kevin Powers was called "the modern AQOTWF" by Tom Wolfe. Pretty poignant book. Absolute MUST READ.

A historical fiction book you might enjoy is [In the Garden of Beasts] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/030740885X/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_1?colid=YX5WLKEYR30J&coliid=I21EDEHJ3X24BW). I was never really into historical fiction until recently, love anything around or during WW2

Literature is my Utopia

Well that won't cause confusion. Two books about Nazi Germany, both called Garden of Beasts. You'd think Deaver would have picked a different title. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/030740885X/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
Vs
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0340734558

What's your general conclusion about the USA/German comparison? I just finished an interesting semi-biographical, semi-dramatic narration about the experience of William Dodd while he was the American Ambassador under FDR. An cool pre-war American perspective of the Third Reich for sure.

I LOVED Adventure of English. Especially the parts around the Norman conquest. Do you remember the part about the French/English contrasting word use concerning meat/animals?

I nominate In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen.

I have just finished the first chapters and it is incredible. The story of Germany during Hitler's rise to power told through the point of the newly appointed American ambassador and his family. Interesting story, fantastic writing.

Yah sorry its in The Garden of Beasts - direct link:

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-Hitlers/dp/030740885X

Have you read The Secret History? I loved it and it looks to be right up your alley. Thing is, I'm betting you've read it.

What about a throwback? Agatha Christie?

The above two, I've read. The next one, I have not, but it just looks like something you would like, based on your wishlist. For that matter, it should probably be on mine, too, next time I get a chance to read. In the Garden of Beasts

Good luck! Hey, I'm a nursing student. I noticed you're a nurse. Fun.

Also, hope you have a great time in the states. What will you be doing here?

Manhunt by Peter Bergen. This reads like a thriller and tells the tale about the detective work that lead to the killing of Bin Laden.

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. This one is about a diplomat's family who moves to Berlin as Adolf Hitler is rising to power.

Thank you! My all-time favorites are pretty par for the course: Harry Potter, LOTR, Jane Austen, Inheritance Cycle, Narnia, etc. I really love historical fiction, especially the Tudors, the Bourbons, and WWII. I'm currently reading In The Garden of Beasts and it is SO good. Everything in quotations is a direct quote, so it's all accurate, but the way he weaves it all together makes it feel more like a story. If that makes sense! A few books ago, I read The Book of Lost Things and it is still bouncing around in my brain! So good.

Read In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. It's a non fiction book that reads like a novel about an American ambassador and his family getting caught up in the early years of Hitler's rule. Gives a good perspective of how people got sucked in.

Pretty good account of it in Erik Larson's "In the Garden of Beasts"

Yes I did! And it was likewise excellent. You mean In the Garden of Beasts, right?

http://www.amazon.com/In-Garden-Beasts-American-Hitlers/dp/030740885X

Here are two books that I would really recommend to know a bit more about what actually happened. I am done debating this issue because as I said above I am tired of being called nasty things.

In the Garden of Beasts

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

This one has some very outdated social views in there about gays but it is still a very good book to understand Hitler and Germany.