In the Garden of Beasts
Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Hoye
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By:
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Erik Larson
About this listen
Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the best-selling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler’s rise to power.
The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.
A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first, Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany”, she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, 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, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.
Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Göring and the expectedly charming - yet wholly sinister - Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively listenable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.
©2011 Stephen Hoye (P)2011 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Golda Meir was a world figure unlike any other. Born in tsarist Russia in 1898, she immigrated to America in 1906 and grew up in Milwaukee, where from her earliest years she displayed the political consciousness and organizational skills that would eventually catapult her into the inner circles of Israel's founding generation. Moving to mandatory Palestine in 1921 with her husband, the passionate socialist joined a kibbutz but soon left and was hired at a public works office by the man who would become the great love of her life.
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The persistent mispronunciations of Hebrew and Yiddish words ruined this performance
- By YH-O on 12-30-18
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Target Tokyo
- The Story of the Sorge Spy Ring
- By: Gordon Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon
- Narrated by: David Rapkin
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Sorge was dispatched to Tokyo in 1933 to serve the spymasters of Moscow. For eight years, he masqueraded as a Nazi journalist and burrowed deep into the German embassy, digging for the secrets of Hitler's invasion of Russia and the Japanese plans for the East. In a nation obsessed with rooting out moles, he kept a high profile - boozing, womanizing, and operating entirely under his own name.
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Riveting
- By Jean on 10-02-14
By: Gordon Prange, and others
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The Zhivago Affair
- The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle over a Forbidden Book
- By: Peter Finn, Petra Couvée
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In May of 1956, an Italian publishing scout took a train to the Russian countryside to visit the country's most beloved poet, Boris Pasternak. He left concealing the original manuscript of Pasternak's much anticipated first novel, entrusted to him with these words from the author: "This is Doctor Zhivago. May it make its way around the world." Pasternak knew his novel would never be published in the Soviet Union, where the authorities regarded it as an assault on the 1917 Revolution, so he allowed it to be published in translation all over the world.
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Read this to understand Doctor Zhivago and Russia
- By KathrynVB on 10-16-14
By: Peter Finn, and others
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The Last Palace
- Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House
- By: Norman Eisen
- Narrated by: Jeff Goldblum
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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When Norman Eisen moved into the US ambassador’s residence in Prague, returning to the land his mother had fled after the Holocaust, he was startled to discover swastikas hidden beneath the furniture in his new home. These symbols of Nazi Germany were remnants of the residence’s forgotten history, and evidence that we never live far from the past. From that discovery unspooled the twisting, captivating tale of four of the remarkable people who had called this palace home. Their story is Europe’s....
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Great book despite goldblum’s narration
- By Fernando Ferrante on 01-19-19
By: Norman Eisen
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Agent 110
- An American Spymaster and the German Resistance in WWII
- By: Scott Miller
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the secret and suspenseful account of how OSS spymaster Allen Dulles led a network of Germans conspiring to assassinate Hitler and negotiate surrender to bring about the end of World War II before the Soviet's advance. Agent 110 is Allen Dulles, a newly minted spy from an eminent family. Dulles met with and facilitated the plots of Germans who were trying to destroy the country's leadership.
By: Scott Miller
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Munich, 1938
- Appeasement and World War II
- By: David Faber
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew back to London from his meeting at Munich with the German chancellor Adolf Hitler and was greeted with a hero's welcome. As he paused on the aircraft steps, he held aloft the piece of paper, bearing both his and the Fuhrer's signatures, that contained the promise that Britain and Germany would never go to war with each other again.
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Great insight into the events of 1938
- By Carolyn on 05-18-13
By: David Faber
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Travelers in the Third Reich
- The Rise of Fascism: 1919-1945
- By: Julia Boyd
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Travelers in the Third Reich is an extraordinary history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating firsthand accounts, drawing together a multitude of voices and stories, including politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, fascists, artists, tourists, and even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler - one so palpable that the listener will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere.
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Why must I write a review to have my rating count?
- By Saint Exupery on 03-04-23
By: Julia Boyd
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A Spy Among Friends
- Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Who was Kim Philby? Those closest to him—like his fellow MI6 officer and best friend since childhood, Nicholas Elliot, and the CIA’s head of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton—knew him as a loyal confidant and an unshakeable patriot. Philby was a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union. Together with Elliott and Angleton he stood on the front lines of the Cold War, holding Communism at bay. But he was secretly betraying them both: He was working for the Russians the entire time.
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The narrator is incorrectly identified.
- By Greenlake DD on 07-30-14
By: Ben Macintyre
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Mark Twain: Man in White
- The Grand Adventure of His Final Years
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Shelden illuminates Mark Twain’s twilight years in this brilliant account of the legendary author’s life. Drawing heavily on Twain’s own letters and journals, Mark Twain: Man in White recounts both Twain’s private family experiences and his larger-than-life public image.
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Fantastic book
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-10
By: Michael Shelden
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Eleanor and Hick
- The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady
- By: Susan Quinn
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
In 1932 Eleanor Roosevelt entered the claustrophobic, duty-bound existence of the first lady with dread. By that time she had put her deep disappointment in her marriage behind her and developed an independent life - now threatened by the public role she would be forced to play. A lifeline came to her in the form of a feisty campaign reporter for the Associated Press: Lorena Hickok. Over the next 30 years, until Eleanor's death, the two women carried on an extraordinary relationship.
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An Icon who was real.
- By Francine Fields on 08-17-17
By: Susan Quinn
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Troublesome Young Men
- The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain - indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation.
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Spectacular Narrative History Book
- By Nostromo on 11-30-18
By: Lynne Olson
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Thirty-six of the most interesting writers in the Pacific Northwest came together for a week-long marathon of writing live on stage. The result? Hotel Angeline, a truly inventive novel that surprises at every turn of the page. Something is amiss at the Hotel Angeline, a rickety former mortuary perched atop Capitol Hill in rain-soaked Seattle. Fourteen-year-old Alexis Austin is fixing the plumbing, the tea, and all the problems of the world, it seems, in her landlady mother’s absence.
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Too Many Writers!
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The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel
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September 29, 1913: the steamship Dresden is halfway between Belgium and England. On board is one of the most famous men in the world, Rudolf Diesel, whose new internal combustion engine is on the verge of revolutionizing global industry forever. But Diesel never arrives at his destination. He vanishes during the night and headlines around the world wonder if it was an accident, suicide, or murder.
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Just a girl and an audio book.
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By: Douglas Brunt
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Dark Invasion
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When a “neutral” United States becomes a trading partner for the Allies early in World War I, the Germans implement a secret plan to strike back. A team of saboteurs - including an expert on germ warfare, a Harvard professor, and a brilliant, debonair spymaster - devise a series of “mysterious accidents” using explosives and biological weapons, to bring down vital targets such as ships, factories, livestock, and even captains of industry like J. P. Morgan. New York Police Inspector Tom Tunney, head of the department’s Bomb Squad, is assigned the difficult mission of stopping them.
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German American Intrigue in World War I
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Paul Schumann, a German American living in New York City in 1936, is a mobster hitman known as much for his brilliant tactics as for taking only "righteous" assignments. But then Paul gets caught. And the arresting officer offers him a stark choice: prison or covert government service. Paul is asked to pose as a journalist covering the summer Olympics taking place in Berlin. He's to hunt down and kill Reinhard Ernst - the ruthless architect of Hitler's clandestine rearmament.
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One of my favs
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The Wager
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On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
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Gasping for Air
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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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- Unabridged
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Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.
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Held my interest for 57 hours and 13 minutes
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The Wide Wide Sea
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On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment? Hampton Sides’ bravura account of Cook’s last journey both wrestles with Cook’s legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration.
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Detailed story of third voyage
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The Last Castle
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Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York's best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House. Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness.
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Very factual
- By Jennifer on 11-28-17
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What listeners say about In the Garden of Beasts
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- levi
- 10-21-11
Larson scores again
When it comes to non-fiction writers that can combine two interlocking stories, Larson has no peer. I read audio books for two reasons: to learn and to be entertained. I learned so much I did not know about the rise of the Third Reich, and had never heard anything about our diplomats living in Germany at that time. Larson weaves a great story with so much detail and vividness. I can't imagine the time it took to do the research needed to write a book such as this, but I am so glad that he did.
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- Daniel Barish
- 07-27-20
Excellent!
This book is very well written, extremely well narrated, chilling, and it’s all true. The author did an excellent job, and the narrator does really well expressing emotions and doing the German accents. This is a must-read/listen if you have any interest in learning about Nazi Germany.
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- Rebecca Rea
- 10-19-20
Compare with 2020!
Listening to this story is timely for where America is in 2020. The parallels are frightening.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lisa C
- 04-22-19
Well written story re Nazism in Pre-WWII Germany
Well-written cautionary true story about how a psychopath like Hitler and his twisted supporters came to impose their evil wills upon Pre-WWII Germany and how their rise to power was ignored or purposely overlooked by European and US officials who were in a position to intervene and head off the war. Many flawed characters. Great narration.
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- Fylynne
- 03-13-12
A fun history lesson!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. It provided an excellent history lesson of what happened during the Third Reich. It provided an understanding of why the German government made those terrible.decisions. They were seeking to restore Germany's prominence on the world stage at any cost. The way the story is told through the Dodd family put the story in a more human perspective versus reading about it in a history textbook.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Martha Dodd was my favorite character. Although I don't agree with her lifestyle choices, she was the most colorful of characters.
Have you listened to any of Stephen Hoye’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No.
Any additional comments?
Since the book was written as a novel rather than a documentary, it really gave me a better understanding of that era in world history.
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- Jefferson
- 10-30-18
Innocents Abroad in Hitler’s Berlin
Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin (2011) recounts the experiences of William E. Dodd, America’s new ambassador to Germany, and his 24-year-old daughter Martha living in Berlin near the Tiergarten (the huge park whose name means the Garden of Beasts), especially during their first year beginning in June 1933. In his prologue, Larson explains that he tried writing a “more intimate” book than “another grand history of that age” like, I suppose, William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960). Larson wanted “to reveal that past world through the experience and perceptions of my two primary subjects, father and daughter, who upon arrival in Berlin embarked on a journey of discovery, transformation, and, ultimately, deepest heartbreak.”
Larson, then, depicts how the scholar, Jeffersonian democratic farmer, and “accidental diplomat” Dodd and his free-spirited and free-loving daughter were “two innocents. . . complicated people moving through a complicated time, before the monsters declared their true nature.” It’s fascinating to read Dodd’s initial attempts to remain objective and neutral, hoping to influence the German regime in a more civilized direction by steadfastly representing American values to them, as well as Martha’s initial infatuation with the Nazi revolution and the seemingly handsome, healthy, and happy Germans she saw everywhere. The major movement of Larson’s book then demonstrates how their first year in Berlin dramatically changed the optimistic views of father and daughter as the beasts in the garden (the Tiergarten park near their rented home serving as a metaphor for Berlin and Germany) began revealing their irrational, ruthless, arrogant, and malevolent natures.
People familiar with that period of German and world history will be familiar with historical highlights like the Reichstag arson trial, the referendum on withdrawing from the League of Nations, the Night of the Long Knives, and the series of laws curtailing Jewish civil and human rights.
I had not known about the many attacks on American citizens who made the mistake of not performing the Nazi salute when storm troopers paraded by. But the most interesting things I learned from Larson’s book concern the personality and role in events of Dodd and his daughter Martha. She was a passionate, independent, naïve, poetic, and romantic woman (engaging in affairs with American writers, French diplomats, Russian spies, Gestapo chiefs, and the like). It was fascinating to read about things like the Dodd family’s increasing and well-founded paranoia that their home phones were bugged, that their servants couldn’t be trusted, and that they were living in an insane country, so that even though they didn’t fear for their physical safety (not even the Nazis would dare to harm the American ambassador or his family), they lived in an intense state of tension making it difficult to converse or sleep. For Dodd this was exacerbated by his realization that members of his own staff were spying on him for his American State Department enemies, members of the “Pretty Good Club” of elite Ivy League millionaires for whom the foreign service and state department was a private boys’ club critical of Dodd’s attempts to rein in expenses and luxuries and of his failures to be sufficiently pro-German and anti-Jewish.
The best part of this book, then, are the intimate details narrated through the letters and diaries and memoirs and so on of the Dodds that tell a true, appalling, and moving story.
Larson writes plenty of witty and neat lines of his own, like, “That tincture of guilt only parents know how to add.” But perhaps he tries too hard to make his book as page-turningly suspenseful as a novel via a bit too much dramatic foreshadowing, the payoffs of which are often not so potent, as when he says, “In light of what was to happen a few years hence, Dodd’s crowing about his own driving prowess can only raise a chill,” or “Up until now she had only seen her father with tears in his eyes once, upon the death of Woodrow Wilson, whom he counted as a good friend. There would be one other occasion, but that was to come in a few more years time.”
And there is an odd moment when Larson sympathizes with Dodd’s attempt to escape the insanity and stress of Berlin by working on his never-finished life work, a definitive and comprehensive multi-volume history of the American south: “Late that afternoon he devoted to quiet hours to his Old South, losing himself in another, more chivalrous age.” I wonder if the slaves would’ve found it a more chivalrous age...
The audiobook reader Stephen Hoye is professional and capable.
People interested in WWII history focusing on Nazi Germany written from an unusual and personal point of view, that of the innocents abroad William and Martha Dodd, should like this book.
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- Anonymous User
- 11-21-23
Glimpse into History
A very interesting piece of history and background into the events leading up to World War II. This history is important because history has a way of repeating itself in spite of the warnings of those not caught in the propaganda of those willing to do “anything” to get or stay in power. Highly recommend this book for those interested and committed to democracy instead of being autocrats / personal power.
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- Jason Wilkerson
- 03-09-24
Must read
This is another book that you will not be able to put down. It has a very interesting story, and just all around great book. 
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- William
- 05-09-18
good background read.
Enjoyed reading about the activity during the 33 to 39 years from first hand accounts.
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- Ken
- 09-20-15
Fascinating historical fiction!
If only all school history books could be so interesting during such an ugly time. Fascinating perspective! Very fun to listen to this story through Audible.com!
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