Freud

Drawing upon both published and unpublished material, this book shows how Freud's theories were influenced by his own development. Isbister traces Freud's work from the early pre-analytic phase to his key studies of dreams, parapraxes and jokes. 1. Beginnings: Early Days and Influences

2. The Birth of Psychoanalysis: Hypnosis, Symptoms and Sexuality

3. Decoding the Mind: Dreams, Slips and Jokes

4. The Psychoanalytic Movement: Cases, Theories and Followers

5. Concerning the Last Things: from Eros to Thanatos

"There is something new here... Isbister has attempted a synthesis of where we stand in Freud scholarship after the latest wave of revisionism. As a summing up of this wave, it is of great value."
Michael Ignatieff

'"sbister's book is like an oasis in the desert. He intelligently avoids one sidedness and partiality. He goes beyond any prejudice and achieves, globally an objective, balanced perception."
Pablo Martinez, Christian Arena

"There is a quality of freshness and tempered enthusiasm in his writing which, ... makes for enjoyable reading; ... Isbister correlates the life and the work in ways that are interesting and sometimes illuminating."
Times Literary Supplement

"This brilliant and clearly written book provides a highly accessible introduction to Freud, the father of psycho-analysis."
The Guardian Press

J. N. Isbister is the author of Freud: An Introduction to His Life and Work, published by Wiley.