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

• Author: Margaret Kurz
• Position: Judge Advocate, U.S. Army
• Pages: 261-269

2012] BOOK REVIEWS261

IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS, LOVE, TERROR, AND AN

AMERICAN FAMILY IN HITLER’S BERLIN1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR MARGARET KURZ*

With that speech, Dodd embarked on a campaign to

raise the alarm about Hitler and his plans, and to

combat the increasing drift in America toward

isolationism; later he would be dubbed the Cassandra of

American diplomats. . . . He predicted, moreover, that

Hitler would be free to pursue his ambitions without

armed resistance from other European democracies, as

they would choose concessions over war.2

The Cause of the Blindness

There is no doubt that in retrospect, Hitler was evil. The question

then becomes, why was the world not able to see Hitler for what he was,

before it became too late? The reader might be surprised to learn that

Ambassador William Dodd made the speech referenced above in 1938,

well after he had resigned his post as Ambassador to Germany and

returned to America. After all, one hopes that America was not complicit

in Hitler’s rise, that she did not ignore a rational voice. In his latest book,

In the Garden of Beasts, Love, Terror, and an American Family in

Hitler’s Berlin, Erik Larson3 shows readers pre-World War II Berlin

* Judge Advocate, U.S. Army. Presently assigned as Chief of Federal Litigation, Joint

Base Lewis McChord, Washington. Written while a student of the 60th Graduate Course

at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, U.S. Army, Charlottesville,

Virginia.

1 ERIC LARSON, IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS, LOVE, TERROR, AND AN AMERICAN FAMILY IN

HITLER’S BERLIN (2011).

2 Id. at 350. Cassandra was a tragic figure from Greek mythology. She was the daughter

of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, and described as one of the most beautiful

women of her time. Her beauty caught the eye of Apollo, who granted her the gift of

prophesy, in exchange for her love. When she failed to return his affections, he cursed her

by causing no one to believe her predictions. Cassandra foresaw the destruction of Troy

and her own death, but as no one would believe her, she was powerless to stop it and

went insane in the process. AESCHYLUS, AGAMEMNON 75–78 (Richmond Lattimore ed.,

trans., Univ. of Chicago Press 1953) (458 B.C.).

3 According to his website, Eric Larson is a New York Times Best Selling author. As one

peruses Larson’s other works, such as Devil in the White City and Issac’s Storm, one can

see that his specialty is historical non-fiction, but written in a sensational way to entice a

reader to view the world and the time through a prominent personality. Eschewing the

more academic and detailed treatment of history and events, Larson chooses to appeal to