This month we will be reading In the G arden of Beasts \;by Erik Larson. \; Our meeting will take pl ace at The Southern Vault located at 104 East Main Street\, Pickens\, SC\, 29671
\nSummary: The time is 1933\, the place\, Berlin\, when Willi am E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a yea r that proved to be a turning point in history.
\nA mild-mannered pr ofessor from Chicago\, Dodd brings along his wife\, son\, and flamboyant d aughter\, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp\, a nd the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusi asm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of t he New Germany\, she has one affair after another\, including with the sur prisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo\, Rudolf Diels. But as evid ence of Jewish persecution mounts\, confirmed by chilling first-person tes timony\, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked\, the press is censored\, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen\, the Dodds experience days full of excitement\, intrigue\, romance and ultimately\, horror\, whe n a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler's true character and ruthless ambition.
\nSuffused with the tense atmosphere of the period\, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Goring and the ex pectedly charming&mdash\;yet wholly sinister&mdash\;Goebbels\, \;In th e Garden of Beasts \;lends a stunning\, eyewitness perspective on even ts as they unfold in real time\, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling\, addictively readable work that spe aks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed b y Hitler until Berlin\, and Europe\, were awash in blood and terror.
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