Widely acclaimed as a master of narrative nonfiction, Erik Larson is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, including The Devil in the White City, which remained on the hardcover and paperback lists for a combined total of more than three years. Set on the cusp of World War II, In the Garden of Beasts follows the American ambassador to Nazi Germany and his family as they settle in the heart of Hitler's Berlin in a grand old house on the city’s central park, the Tiergarten—in literal translation, the Garden of Beasts.  Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, the family first experiences an optimistic city of packed cafés and concert halls before a climactic spasm of violence reveals Hitler's ruthless ambition and true character.