It is 1933, and the post of U.S. Ambassador to Germany remains empty as the President battles with the Great Depression. Quiet, scholarly Chicago history professor William E. Dodd’s name is suggested as a candidate to the President, and he and his family find themselves in Berlin as Adolf Hitler is gaining popularity. Dodd’s determination to maintain communication between his embassy and the Nazis is challenged daily by the Anti-Semitism of German leaders and pressures from American Jewish groups. While he walks a diplomatic tightrope, his beautiful and effervescent daughter engages in a lively social life, becoming close to Nazis and Socialists alike, complicating the picture. This is an incredible and readable account of the years before the outbreak of World War II in Europe.