100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide Delivery 🚀 Thank you for supporting our 100% NZ-owned store ❤️

The Nazi and the Psychiatrist

Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In 1945, following the end of World War II, Hermann Göring and other high-ranking Nazi officials were detained and assessed for their mental fitness for the Nuremberg Trials. The Nazi and the Psychiatrist details the unique and perilous relationship between these infamous prisoners and Captain Douglas M. Kelley, an ambitious US army psychiatrist tasked with examining them. Through unprecedented access to Kelley's private papers and medical records, this gripping narrative explores the surprising psychological insights gained during Kelley's encounters with figures such as Göring, revealing unexpected dimensions to the minds behind some of history’s greatest evils.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3999
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in history, military studies, psychology, and true stories about World War II, particularly those fascinated by the Nuremberg Trials and the psychological analysis of infamous war criminals.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

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

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In 1945, after his capture at the end of the Second World War, Hermann Göring arrived at an American-run detention centre in war-torn Luxembourg, accompanied by sixteen suitcases and a red hatbox. The suitcases contained all manner of paraphernalia: medals, gems, two cigar cutters, silk underwear, a hot water bottle, and the equivalent of 1 million in cash. Hidden in a coffee can, a set of brass vials housed glass capsules containing a clear liquid and a white precipitate: potassium cyanide.

Joining Göring in the detention centre were the elite of the captured Nazi regime: Grand Admiral Dönitz, armed forces commander Wilhelm Keitel and his deputy Alfred Jodl, the mentally unstable Robert Ley, the suicidal Hans Frank, the pornographic propagandist Julius Streicher—fifty-two senior Nazis in all, of whom the dominant figure was Göring.

To ensure that the villainous captives were fit for trial at Nuremberg, the US army sent an ambitious army psychiatrist, Captain Douglas M. Kelley, to supervise their mental well-being during their detention. Kelley realised he was being offered 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.

So began a remarkable relationship between Kelley and his captors, told here for the first time with unique access to Kelley's long-hidden papers and medical records. Kelley's was a hazardous quest, dangerous because, against all his expectations, he began to appreciate and understand some of the Nazi captives, none more so than the former Reichsmarschall, Hermann Göring. Evil had its charms.

The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai explores this intriguing chapter of history with riveting detail and insight.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Enthralling and gripping from the first page, this story reads like a thriller, captivating readers with its vivid portrayal of a remarkable and dangerous quest into the minds of Nazi leaders.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781610394635

Publisher: PublicAffairs,U.S.

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 02 September 2014

Country: United States

Imprint: PublicAffairs,U.S.

Illustration: 8-pp. B/W photo insert on text

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 24.0mm

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 280g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Jack El-Hai is a widely-published journalist who covers history, medicine, and science, and the author of the acclaimed book The Lobotomist. He is the winner of the June Roth Memorial Award for Medical Journalism, as well as fellowships and grants from the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the centre for Arts Criticism. He lives in Minneapolis.

Also by Jack El-Hai

View all
  • Face Transplant
    The captivating story of the first face transplant at Mayo Clinic. For years, they came in on weekends to plan and practice—nearly sixty surgeons, nurses, and anaesthesiologists, preparing to harmonise in a vast medical symphony. For the team at Mayo Clinic, it was their most complex surgery to date: a face transplant. At the heart of this event was Andy...
    Hardback
    $5499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Lobotomist
    The Lobotomist explores one of the darkest chapters of American medicine: the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, M.D., who saw a solution in lobotomy, a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. Although...
    Paperback
    $5600
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

More from History & Military

View all
  • On Sale
    12% off
    Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    Paperback
    $2900
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Spy and the Traitor
    The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Betrayal
    ‘Tom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.’ Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Shattered Lands
    'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' – PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation … both original and important' – MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The World of the Odyssey & Other Greek Myths
    This jigsaw brings together Odysseus' famed journey in one epic scene. Each reference from the tale is highlighted and explained in an accompanying fold-out poster with text by an expert author. 1000-PIECE PUZZLE that measures 48.5 x 68 cm (19 x 27 in.) when completed. INCLUDES A FOLD-OUT POSTER with an introduction to the Odyssey and descriptions of all the...
    Jigsaw
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $4499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Women's Prize Winner
    The Finest Hotel in Kabul
    The story of a hotel. The story of a nation. When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan's first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world. More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Goliath’s Curse
    Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp offers a radical retelling of human history through the lens of collapse, delving into what this means for our uncertain future. This narrative spans from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. It's grounded in the latest research and a comprehensive database of more than 440...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Matariki: The Star of the Year
    In mid-winter, Matariki rises in the pre-dawn sky, and its observation is celebrated with incantations on hilltops at dawn, balls, exhibitions, dinners, and a vast number of events. The Matariki tradition has been re-established, and its regeneration coincides with a growing interest in Māori astronomy. Still, there remain some unanswered questions about how Matariki was traditionally observed. These include: What...
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.