Kessel's prizewinning book, Les coeurs purs (1927 The Pure in Heart, 1928), contained the story " Makhno et sa juive," while Terre d'amour (1927) examined the Zionist experiment, but he was remote from Jewish life.
Les mains du miracle (1960 The Magic Touch, 1961) is a biography of Felix Kersten, *Himmler's Finnish physiotherapist, who saved many Jews from the Nazis. His World War II story, Le bataillon du ciel (1947), was an aviation epic. His lively reaction to people and events made him a compelling storyteller, and his books were easily adapted to the screen. During the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s Kessel traveled extensively in the U.S. Three other novels of this period were Nuits de princes (1927 Princes of the Night, 1928), a story with a Russian background Belle de jour (1928), translated into English in 1962 and later filmed and Vent de sable (1929). Two of Kessel's earliest books were La Steppe rouge (1922), a collection of travel sketches, and L'Equipage (1923), the first novel about French aviation, based on his experiences in World War I. He received French, British, and American decorations. After the fall of France he escaped to England and spent the rest of the war in a Free French air force squadron, flying special missions to occupied France. When World War II broke out he became a war correspondent. Between the two world wars Kessel built up a considerable reputation as a novelist, journalist, and writer of screenplays. The following year, however, he volunteered for war service and became an officer in the air force.
By 1915 he was already writing for the Journal des Débats, and he also began training as an actor. The family returned to Russia and, when Joseph was ten years old, settled in France. Kessel was born in Clara, one of the Jewish agricultural settlements in Argentina, where his father was physician.
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