In the Garden of Beasts is a non-fiction story about the American Ambassador to Germany and his family while living in Berlin in the early to mid thirties. What a fascinating look at the rise of Hitler! Although it's a non-fiction piece, the author does a great job of making it flow like a narrative and used the players own words when he could. 
 I think this book is a great testament to how even America just didn't want to face that Hilter was a bad seed. Ambassador Dodd began to take him seriously only to be forced to resign - if only someone had listened to him! 
 It's hard to imagine what life was like at this time in Germany if you weren't actually there living it, but Larson does a great job using this book to paint an accurate picture. I was intrigued and disgusted by the idea that animals were protected better under the law than humans! It's a dark period of human nature that while horrifying, should not be forgotten. Well worth the read. 
 On another note: I hear there may be a movie adaptation of this starring Tom Hanks in the near future. This book screams for a movie adaptation so I hope it gets made.