All through my middle and high school years, I found myself fascinated with history, especially whenever it involved war or some sort of major conflict. Being the young man that I am there could be several reasons for why I take a particular liking to war stories and documentaries, it definitely has to do with the realistic details of war like the sound of a machine gun or the image of bombers dropping explosives over enemy territory. All of this captivates my mind and allows me to try and put myself in the situation of the soldiers in which all of these events are real and occur around them all the time. This being said, when choosing from the books presented to us at the end of the semester, having already a basic background knowledge of World War II it wasn't too hard to decide which book I was going to read. Erik Larson's In the Garden Of Beasts gives a real perspective through an American Ambassador's view of just how things really were in Nazi Germany when Hitler came to power. One class discussion that really had me thinking more about the book and the sort of ideas and thoughts that come to mind after completing it was where we discussed if the book were to be painted into a beautiful painting, would we hang it on a wall in our house? My answer to this question is yes. .
If the title doesn't evoke some sort of emotion, then this wouldn't be the book for you. The title itself sets the basis for the setting of the story, what could be considered Berlin's Central Park. The park is called the Tiergarten which translates to "animal garden", what was once a royal hunting preserve many many years ago. This soon would be the park in which the main character William Dodd and his daughter Martha would find themselves strolling through, trying to make sense of this what looked to be beautiful city of Berlin had to offer them, or maybe not. In 1933 it was a time of extreme change in Germany, as many innocent Jewish and Americans were being beaten brutally for no reason.
