THE MEMOIRS OF DOCTOR KERSTEN

These are the first intimate recollections to come from Hitler's inner, upper circle, Dr. Kersten, a Finnish physiotherapist who practised in Holland and Germany, first treated Himmler in 1940 -- became indispensable to Himmler with his special type of message -- and thereby became inviolable through years to come. Playing on Himmler's health, Kersten was able to intercede for special friends, forestalled the deportation of the Dutch, bettered the lot of the Jews in some concentration camps. There's considerable savory and unsavory scandalmongering here, of his patients, Hess (who, he claims, was impotent), Ciano, Ley (a drunk and a lecher), Ribbentrop (syphilitic) -- and indirectly of Hitler, whose medical report was made accessible to Kersten by Himmler and showed an uncured syphilitic condition as well as mental unbalance. Personal detail alternates with political event in what is a somewhat sensational (and suspect) set of memoirs, which will be contested -- but may well be read.