The time is 1933. The place is Berlin, Germany. The new government in power is being crafted by Adolf Hitler.
Into this setting, Franklin D. Roosevelt sends William Dodd, a University of Chicago history professor who loves spending time on his farm in Round Hill, Virginia. According to the author, Ambassador Dodd "proved to be exactly what Roosevelt had wanted, a lone beacon of American freedom and hope in a land of gathering darkness."
The story of his first year there - he ended up being there for 4 1/2 years - is the basis for this work of non-fiction by the author of Devil in the White City. Harry heard an interview with the author on NPR and thought I'd like it, so he ordered it for me.
It's a good read - and quite compelling. I recall asking my mother once how Hitler managed to come to power so easily and for so long. She told me that no one could quite believe that what they were hearing was true. So they chose not to believe it. This book probes some of the attitudes and individuals that allowed these ideas to flourish long enough for Hitler to gain absolute power.
Erik Larson is a good story teller. His works are non-fiction, but they read like a novel. I have read lots of books about World War II and the Holocaust, and it is certainly enlightening to read about the conditions and events that preceded those horrific times in history.
(The title of the book refers to the term they used to refer to the zoo there in Berlin - and maybe all zoos - my German is non-existent. The irony is apparent - the zoo near the Ambassador's home is full of beasts - as is the government Mr. Dodd is there to deal with.)
