Novelistic history is a good way to describe the true story of William E . Dodd who in 1933 was appointed US Ambassador to Germany.
A mild mannered and modest academic from Chicago - this book describes in fascinating detail, the impact of the rise of Hitler and the Nazis and the erosion of civic values and increasing prejudice in Berlin.
This is at a time when the US tries to stay neutral in the impending doom or ‘gathering storm’ that was building prior to WW2 in Europe.
Instead of a dry historical narrative, this well paced book is seen through the lens of the Dodd family and the precocious exploits of his daughter Martha consorting with Nazis and Russian dignitaries alike and sometimes at the same time!
This is similar to “The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz” - Larsons other book seen through the eyes of the Churchill family in the early years of the war.
Living close to the Tiergarten in Berlin - the beauty and tranquility of this central park is offset against the rise of the Nazi regime and the increasing violence and killing of Jews in the run up to 1939.
Ambassador Dodd was the “canary in the coal mine” and could see that the new leadership in Germany could not be dealt with in the same diplomatic ways- as previous generations-something that the Roosevelt administration in the US failed to take seriously enough.
For all this who appreciate history and those wanting to really understand the motivations and divisions in society at this pivotal time in the 1930’s : this is a highly recommended good read and another winner from Erik Larson.
Its message is prescient today as it was then - as we look around the world and see the decline of democracies and the onslaught of populist leaders.
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