I was interested in this book because over the past couple of years I've been reading the series of Philip Kerr novels about a Berlin private detective where much of the stories takes place in 1930s Berlin over the course of the seven books I've read so far. A lot of the places and incidents described in the novels are also in the Erik Larson book. This book was on a lot of best of 2011 lists and I can see why. Highly recommended.
I had also enjoyed reading Erik Larson's last book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.
Enjoyed Stephen Hoye's reading of this book. The research was terrifc and obviously Lardon spent a lot of hours studying the prewar diaries of these important World War Two characters. Dodd our ambassador in those days (US) was probably better fitted for the job than his contemporary State Department bosses gave him credit for. He had that viewpoint of history which he shared with Roosevelt, who appointed him. Was particularly inteerested in the human side of this family including the flamboyant Martha, his daughter, who was definitely a product of her generation's malaise. My Jewish friends rate this book high on their list of "must reads" for its exposure of the general racist dislike of Jews in the US and abroad before the war. Well worth the read.
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