Vincent Montagne, President of the French Publishers Association, for the “Get Caught Reading” campaign

I was thirteen years old when I discovered this book by Joseph Kessel. I could never forget the story of Doctor Kersten, this quiet man with a therapeutic ability from the art of Tibetan medicine, who is dragged against his will into the Nazi regime, says Mr Vincent Montagne, President of the French Publishers Association.

It is an absolutely magnificent and moving book, a lesson in humanity and of the courage borne by a man who has a growing influence on a suffering Himmler that will allow him to save thousands of lives, added Mr Montagne.