"Ulf Schmidt's excellent biography of Karl Brandt, a significant, though hitherto remarkably little-known, member of Hitler's entourage casts significant new light on how a cultured, intelligent and idealistic doctor could so fervently believe in the principles of Nazi inhumanity that down to his execution he saw nothing wrong in eliminating the sick and infirm in the interests of a more healthy Volkskörper".

Professor Sir Ian Kershaw

'[An] excellent book' - Medicine, Conflict and Survival

"Remarkable new research by a German historian is revealing the ideological evolution of one of Hitler's closest associates.  The research- which has taken nine years to carry out-shows how an apparently decent caring man metamorphosed into a mass murderer who was sentenced to death at Nuremberg." -BBC    

"An important contribution to the history of the Third Reich.  In exploring the extensive web of relationships of the most powerful medical figure during the wartime period, he provides valuable insights into the institutional dynamics behind the criminal medical policies of the regime." - German History

"How such an intelligent and gifted young physician could betray everything that medicine - not to mention Western civilization - stood for, is the main theme of Schmidt's spellbinding book....Although Schmidt's book is historical and cannot be classified as part of the modern-day 'culture wars,' its conclusion carries a powerful lesson for medical ethics in our own time." - First Things

William Doino Jr., First Things

"As British historian Schmidt shows, a belief in eugenics, combined with a dash of ambition, motivated Brandt...a man of culture and science who turned medicine into a tool of murder."--Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly