bLarson is a marvelous writer...superb at creating characters with a few short strokes.--iNew York Times Book Reviewib pErik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of iDevil in the White Cityi turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler's rise to power. pThe time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. pA mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the New Germany, she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts,