Last month I readGeorge Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War Iby Miranda Carter, followed in short order by Erik Larson’sIn the Garden of Beasts.  I absolutely recommend Carter’s book- it’s an incredible history of three ridiculous people who had obscene amounts of power, and it explores and explains the frustrating and arbitrary policies that lead to a war I for one knew very little about. (Most of what I knew about WWI came from All Quiet on the Western Front and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.  Oh no, mustard gas! Look out, Indy!)  Larson’s book is also very interesting, but since most everyone knows how bad Hitler turned out to be, it was difficult to remain sympathetic to the Americans’ lack of foresight throughout the story. So difficult! Anyway, I found the two books complimented each other- especially  having the background of Wilhelm’s Germany to provide some historical context as to how Hitler’s Germany could happen.

Side note: you know who really loves In the Garden of Beasts?Glenn Beck. I’m pretty sure he sees that Obama is Hitler, George Soros is Goebbels, Occupy Wall Street protesters are the SA, and he, of course, is Ambassador Dodd- a lone voice of warning among the beasts!