What Was Freud Thinking: A Short Historical Introduction to Freud's Theories and Therapies

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for Freud scholars at all levels!
Review: Finally, a readable, accurate, and fair presentation of Freud. Unlike most recent books about Freud, the author does not have an ax to grind, for or against Freud. He does seem aware, however, that the way Freud is typically taught, or written about, today, presents the ideas completely out of the historical and scientific contexts in which Freud was working. This book presents the challenges Freud was facing, and thereby makes the development of his theory, and the changes that he made along the way, intelligible (and even convinving). Another notable feature of this excellent book is that it can serve as the perfect book for an introductury, undergraduate class on Freud, as well as a book for graduate or post-graduate level training in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, etc. Also, this book is crammed with interesting facts about Freud that clarify situations often described inaccurately in other works. In short, if you have been waiting for a readable, scholarly book on Freud, or even if you have read many other Freud books, buy this one and recommend it to your colleagues. You will definitely learn something new, no matter what your level of expertise.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for Freud scholars at all levels!
Review: Finally, a readable, accurate, and fair presentation of Freud. Unlike most recent books about Freud, the author does not have an ax to grind, for or against Freud. He does seem aware, however, that the way Freud is typically taught, or written about, today, presents the ideas completely out of the historical and scientific contexts in which Freud was working. This book presents the challenges Freud was facing, and thereby makes the development of his theory, and the changes that he made along the way, intelligible (and even convinving). Another notable feature of this excellent book is that it can serve as the perfect book for an introductury, undergraduate class on Freud, as well as a book for graduate or post-graduate level training in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, etc. Also, this book is crammed with interesting facts about Freud that clarify situations often described inaccurately in other works. In short, if you have been waiting for a readable, scholarly book on Freud, or even if you have read many other Freud books, buy this one and recommend it to your colleagues. You will definitely learn something new, no matter what your level of expertise.

Rating:
Summary: An Introductory Text on Freud Like No Other
Review: While many introductory texts on Freud are available, none has accomplished what Silverstein has done in this new offering. Most introductory texts concentrate their efforts on the biographical detail of Freud's life because so much (e.g., letters, drafts, papers) is available or are fairly consistent to a greater or lesser extent merely adequately representing the basic theoretical concepts of psychoanalysis. However, delightfully Silverstein deviates from this formulaic approach in favor of one that minimizes the temporal and emphasizes the thematic. While other introductions to Freud have been characterized as or laid claim to the subtitle of "intellectual biography," it is only here that in an introductory work such a contribution to the history of ideas is evident. The author has constructed a powerful tour de force that presents Freud's episodic dilemmas and solutions that range from his initial desire to understand the nature and etiology of the neuroses in order to bring relief to his patients to his discovery and mapping of the uncharted territory of the unconscious and its power to rule our lives. A proven Freud researcher and career university professor, Silverstein has done a remarkable job of integrating and synthesizing the intellectual and the biographical. For example, Freud's interest in neurology that began with histological examinations and culminated with his writing of the Project for a Scientific Psychology has only received passing mention in other texts as a biographical expediency, here linkages are made between this material and Freud's later metapsychological constructs and understanding of the mind/brain relationship. Hence, while this book will indeed provide the novice with a superior education as to the intellectual struggles and accomplishments of Freud, there is much here that the advanced reader or researcher already familiar with the literature of Freud would find new and novel. It is clear to this reviewer that this introductory text is by design only the first book-length effort on Freud by this insightful and talented author. The brevity and conciseness of the text even makes the lack of an index of little or no concern.

Rating:
Summary: An Introductory Text on Freud Like No Other
Review: While many introductory texts on Freud are available, none has accomplished what Silverstein has done in this new offering. Most introductory texts concentrate their efforts on the biographical detail of Freud's life because so much (e.g., letters, drafts, papers) is available or are fairly consistent to a greater or lesser extent merely adequately representing the basic theoretical concepts of psychoanalysis. However, delightfully Silverstein deviates from this formulaic approach in favor of one that minimizes the temporal and emphasizes the thematic. While other introductions to Freud have been characterized as or laid claim to the subtitle of "intellectual biography," it is only here that in an introductory work such a contribution to the history of ideas is evident. The author has constructed a powerful tour de force that presents Freud's episodic dilemmas and solutions that range from his initial desire to understand the nature and etiology of the neuroses in order to bring relief to his patients to his discovery and mapping of the uncharted territory of the unconscious and its power to rule our lives. A proven Freud researcher and career university professor, Silverstein has done a remarkable job of integrating and synthesizing the intellectual and the biographical. For example, Freud's interest in neurology that began with histological examinations and culminated with his writing of the Project for a Scientific Psychology has only received passing mention in other texts as a biographical expediency, here linkages are made between this material and Freud's later metapsychological constructs and understanding of the mind/brain relationship. Hence, while this book will indeed provide the novice with a superior education as to the intellectual struggles and accomplishments of Freud, there is much here that the advanced reader or researcher already familiar with the literature of Freud would find new and novel. It is clear to this reviewer that this introductory text is by design only the first book-length effort on Freud by this insightful and talented author. The brevity and conciseness of the text even makes the lack of an index of little or no concern.