By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.
The Nazi and the Psychiatrist
Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII
Contributors
By Jack El-Hai
Formats and Prices
- On Sale
- Sep 2, 2014
- Page Count
- 304 pages
- Publisher
- PublicAffairs
- ISBN-13
- 9781610394635
Price
$21.99Price
$28.99 CADFormat
Format:
- Trade Paperback $21.99 $28.99 CAD
- ebook $11.99 $15.99 CAD
- Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $24.99
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 2, 2014. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Buy from Other Retailers:
In 1945, an improbable relationship between the fallen Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goering, and ambitious US Army physician, Douglas Kelley, becomes a hazardous quest into the nature of evil, amid the devastation of Europe at the end of World War II
In 1945, after his capture at the end of the Second World War, Hermann Göring arrived at an American-run detention center in war-torn Luxembourg, accompanied by sixteen suitcases and a red hatbox. Joining him in the detention center were fifty-one senior Nazis, of whom Göring was the dominant figure.
To ensure that the captives were fit for trial at Nuremberg, the US army sent an ambitious army psychiatrist, Captain Douglas M. Kelley, to supervise and evaluate them. To Kelley, it was the professional opportunity of a lifetime: to discover a distinguishing trait among these arch-criminals that would mark them as psychologically different from the rest of humanity. But Kelley’s quest would prove to be a dangerous one. The more he spoke with the Nazi captives, the more he began to understand and appreciate their perspective—and the more he would fall for their charms.
-
“This intimate and insightful portrait of two intersecting, outsized personalities‑‑one an exemplar of public service and the other an avatar of evil‑‑is as suspenseful as a classic Hitchcock film that hinges on an eerie psychological secret. Readers of The Nazi and the Psychiatrist will be riveted by Jack El‑Hai's moving study of how good and evil can converge in a heightened instant and across a lifetime.”Andrew Solomon, National Book Award winning author of Far from the Tree
-
“In the chilling tale of Dr. Douglas Kelley, a young U.S. Army psychiatrist and his secret evaluations of Nazi leader Hermann Göring, Jack El‑Hai weaves a harrowing narrative that brilliantly probes the depths of evil. [A]n utterly fascinating book.”Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Devil in the Grove
-
“If you liked Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt, try The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El‑Hai.”Psychology Today
-
“A detailed, meticulously researched book about a man who showed that evil can arise anywhere.”The Independent (UK)
-
“Gripping and compelling.”Daily Mail
-
“With full access to Kelley’s notes on Nazi psychology, El‑Hai infuses his story with the messy, compelling details of people’s lives. These tug the reader inside Kelley’s head for an engrossing exploration of human nature, sanity, and despair.”Science News
-
“Enthralling story which grips from the first page and reads like a thriller.”Must Read (UK)
-
“Ace reportage on the unique relationship between a prison physician and one of the Third Reich’s highest ranking officials. El‑Hai’s gripping account turns a chilling page in American history and provides an unsettling meditation on the machinations of evil.”Kirkus Reviews, starred review
-
“Journalist El‑Hai’s haunting historical account raises questions about the human capacity to cause harm… In this thoroughly engaging story of the jocular master war criminal and the driven, self‑aware psychiatrist, El‑Hai finds no simple binary.”Publishers Weekly, starred review
-
“Well researched and well written.”Library Journal
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use