The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII Paperback – September 2, 2014

Excellent research and a good through-line by the author. Excellent post-WWII information, and a good bio ofDr. Kelley combined. Story told in an accessible, readable style. Startling insights into both historic figures and theevolution of psychiatric profiling, and also the same for the doctor's startling and profound conclusions on his subjects.This is a must-read for serious Third Reich scholars/students, it is also a good bio, and a good study in psychiatricdynamics at work.

When I first saw this book's cover I thought it was "The Nazi Psychiatrist". That interested me because Nazi psychiatry must have been very strange. Of course I fell for the eternal book publishers trick of putting a swastika on the cover, which always gooses sales, and of course the word "Nazi" is in big capital letters. Then I looked closer and read the small words: "and the", between the word "Nazi" and "Psychiatrist". Then after more study I read that this book is about the relationship between a big deal Nazi, Hermann Gorring, and a famous American Psychiatrist named Douglas Kelley.Well I read the book and it is about more than what it says on the cover. I found out that the book centers on the biography of Douglas Kelley, the Nuremburg Trials, the incarceration of top Nazis before their trials, the career of Kelley, the personal similarities between Gorring and Kelly, the conflict between Kelley and a psychologist who worked with him, the Rorschach tests of the Nazis, brief talks about the other big Nazis like Hess and the profound thinking about whether the Nazis were insane or are we all capable of being one of them. There are a lot of things in this book and there are even more than what I have related. The book goes all over the place and it really could have used a better editor to get it narrowed out. The author actually does a good job with a whole lot of information, but once again he should have focused a little more. Although everything is fascinating, there is too much here. Focus is needed.I learned a lot from this book but let me tell you this, I would still like to read about the thoughts of a Nazi Psychiatrist. Maybe someone will write such a book. Just use this same cover and get rid of "and the" and it will be all set. You got a nice swastika there already.I

This is a well documented history about the fascinating interaction between two egotists, psychiatrist Dr. Douglas Mc Kelley and the Nazi second in command, Reich Marshal Herman Goering. It is well researched from army and academic archives but also from personal records kept by Dr. Kelley's son, Douglas Jr.The insights into the two protagonist's personalities are well drawn and very believable. The good versus evil theme is also presented. The questioned raised as to whether Dr. Kelley was forever changed by the evil spector of Goering is never really answered but left for the reader to ponder.Fascinating history, well presented, this would make a good movie or play.

This book gives an insider's view and a different perspective on the history and individuals of this time.Interesting how the shrink was just as crazy or more so than the Nazi's he was studying.He was an arrogant, immature, individual and had many of the same qualities of the Nazi's he was studying.He certainly did not know about/understand the principle of keeping up boundaries and suffered from it along with his not being in any type of serious therapy/analysis himself.A sad ending for him and his family but a good read.Highly recommend.

Excellent as far as it went. I knew Doc when I was a rookie police officer working in records and was one of the last who saw him as he left the police station to go home 1-1-58 and heard the ambulance call. Still gives me chills all these many years after the fact. Over the years I have often wondered how it happened. There were rumors but nothing quite like the book. Good to have at least this much of the story.

This book is not a scientific study on the psychology of the main Nazi defendants in Nüremberg, but an interesting and quite detailed report on the unsuspectedly normal personality of mass murderers.Besides this, it gives interesting insights into the personal life of one of the psychiatrists (Douglas Kelley) involved in maintaining the health of the prisoners, including both his relationship with Hermann Göring and his own family. Although this may sometimes look like a splitting of the narrative, its leitmotiv concerns some similarities between Göring's and Kelley's own narcissistic behaviors.

I found El-Hai's previous book, "The Lobotomist," absolutely fascinating. The history of psycho-surgery and the life of the developer--and biggest fan--of the "icepick" operation fit together beautifully. The lobotomy fad remains a significant topic.At first glance, a book about a psychiatrist who examined the leading Nazi war-crime defendants would seem to hold similar potential. But sadly, there is not much of a payoff here. The view we get of the Nazis reinforces Douglas Kelley's conclusion that (with a couple of exceptions) they weren't psychologically abnormal. Aside from that, we don't gain much insight into them. When Kelley, and El-Hai's focus, return to the U.S., it seems that we might get into something that's more than moderately interesting, in the topic of Kelley's criminological work. But again, El-Hai doesn't have anything particularly memorable to tell us.The book is well written and appears to be well researched. The varying interpretations of and periodic disputes over the Rorschach tests given to the Nazi defendants by Kelley and another Army psychiatrist might have provided a better framework for El-Hai's material than the life story of Kelley himself.