In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson My rating: 5 of 5 stars In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin , a long if not accurate title for Erik Larson’s latest book, is one that might be hard to read for some. See, when looking back on history we’re able to point out what should have happened, or how we should have done things, or exclaim disbelief that we let things happen the way they did. But when you’re living during history you can only hope that the decisions made, the actions done, and the final outcome will be good.