'Beasts' follows the rise of Nazi Germany from one family's point of view.(In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin)(Book review)

Byline: Rege Behe

May 15--As the months stretched into years and Erik Larson immersed himself deeper into his research of Nazi Germany, there were many books of great use to him. One, in particular, Ian Kershaw's "Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris," was extremely helpful. It was the cover of the book that became problematic for Larson: a photo of Hitler, imperious and impudent, staring back at the Seattle-based writer every day. "I just developed such a powerful distaste, a personal distaste, for Hitler," says Larson, who spent three-and-a-half years researching "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin." "You just want to smack him, kind of like you want to smack (Osama) bin Laden. You want to …