The book was first published in 1960 and now updated with new facts. Joseph Kessel tells the story of Kersten, a private therapist of the beast of The Third Reich Heinrich Himmler. Kersten served the SS boss for many years and was able to save lives of many thousands Jews. The book is well-written and interesting.

I am going to have to disclaimer the heck out of this review. Which is fair because the foreward of the book is a giant disclaimer.

First, this is a re-release of a book which was published in 1961. Second, the title character, Felix Kersten, was part of the Nazi war machine but also kind of not. He was definitely Himmler's physician. Third, Kersten definitely saved lives but also exaggerated excessively about how many he saved. Finally, he claimed to not benefit from being a Nazi and that he was forced into it.

Got all that? Ultimately, the foreward of the book does an excellent job explaining all of this and making the case the book is still important. We get a look at the Nazi inner court and Kersten may be a liar, but he also was at least partially a hero. Scholars agree he saved lives. How many is still very much up for debate.

Where does this leave the story? Joseph Kessel, the author, clearly was taken in by Kersten. He tells a fawning story which very much excuses Kersten for collaborating. Is it fair to judge a book from the 1960s with our expectations today, though? It doesn't ask tough questions about inherent benefits. It does not do good enough scholarship to catch Kessel in his lies. It does, however, give us a glimpse at the workings of one of the most vile humans to ever live in Himmler.

Ultimately, I couldn't recommend this book but I would not say it is without merit. If you want to know everything about World War II then it may be worth it.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Elliott & Thompson Books.)

This was a hard one to rate, but I think this quote from Norman Ohler in the foreward says it all.

"...[Kessler] called his text a hybrid of fact and fiction that leaves open to interpretation whether what we read here actually happened as described."

So ignoring my interpretation, I'll focus on the actual writing while keeping in mind that this is a new edition of the translation, of the original work.

I felt like a good quarter to a third - possibly more - of this book wasn't necessary, mostly in the beginning. In some ways, I learned more in the appendix than I did in the actual story. On top of that, there were moments when this dragged so badly that I either almost fell asleep or DNF'd.

Second, the format. I read this as an ARC of the newest edition, and I'm hoping that it's just an issue with the file since this is listed to be a hardcover, and would have been formatted with that in mind. But the format issues definitely didn't help when the story was dragging.

Overall, if you like reading about people of war/history, especially those that are lesser known, then go ahead and give this a read to determine your own interpretation.

As a historian, I love a book with a TON of annotation, with references, with ways in which I, a simple person, can read more about the subject covered.

THIS IS NOT THAT BOOK!

The book tells of an incredible doctor who was trained in Eastern Medicine to release stress, nerves through massage.

Felix Kersten is Himmlers personal massage therapist. As such, the book contends, that Kersten had such power and influence over the 2nd most powerful man in Nazi Germany, that he was able to free concentration camp inmates, thwart the deportation of ALL DUTCH CITIZENS (really?!), and brokered peace at the end of the war.

I was curious about many points in this story and began to google items, like Hitlers syphilitic paralysis...it said see this book....very circular argument.

Then wikipedia states that the Dutch government awarded Kersten the Order of Orange because of his work. Another scholar refuted all of the things that happened between Kersten and Himmler.

The book ends abruptly and NEVER gives a followup of what had happened, what occurred or who the author got the sources from.

If this tale is true, what an incredible story, however, I have my doubts and need more documentation before I can fully believe this fantastical tale.

Woody Harrelson is set to portray Felix Kersten in Oren Moverman's cinematic adaptation of this 1960 novel by Joseph Kessel that captures the largely unknown story of Heinrich Himmler's personal physician and physical therapist, a Finn whose ability to adequately address Himmler's stomach issues earned him a place in Himmler's circle of trust and allowed him to influence Himmler enough to save the lives of thousands of individuals from the Third Reich's concentration camps.

While Schindler has largely become a household name owing to Steven Spielberg's remarkable film "Schindler's List," Kersten's own story has often gone unnoticed even 60+ years after Kessel first brought it to life.

In the years since "The Man with Miraculous Hands" was first published, many of Kessel's stories of Kersten have been verified by multiple resources though Kersten is also noted by some sources for having a tendency to exaggerate his direct impact. Regardless, it is nearly universally accepted that he was able to use his personal relationship with Himmler for profound good including likely saving the lives of nearly 60,000 Jews who remained in concentration camps in the waning days of World War II despite Himmler's known plan to exterminate them all before they could be liberated by Allied forces. Instead, Himmler agreed to not follow through after a remarkable meeting arranged by Kersten between Himmler and the World Jewish Congress's Norbert Masur.

This is a relatively short yet incredibly engaging story that is worth reading in advance of the upcoming feature film.