A Curious Madness: An American Combat Psychiatrist, a Japanese War Crimes Suspect, and an Unsolved Mystery from World War II

Jaffe (former web editor, Smithsonian magazine) tells the story of two men whose lives converged at the Tokyo war crimes trial following World War II. One was Shumei Okawa, a Japanese civilian considered by many as the intellectual leader of Japanese militarism; the other was Maj. Daniel Jaffe, the U.S. Army psychiatrist assigned to determine the accused's sanity (and the author's grandfather). This book explores not only the mystery surrounding Okawa's mental state but also that of the quiet, war-fatigued psychiatrist. The only civilian on trial, Okawa slapped former Prime Minister Tojo's head the first day in court; Major Jaffe's assessment of Okawa helped him be removed from the proceedings. A considerable part of the book is devoted to the author's grandfather's story: his mentally ill Jewish immigrant mother, his education and training, and his work with shell-shocked soldiers in combat. This book is equally as compelling as Jack El-Hai's The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, above.