Book Notices

INSIGHT THERAPY. By Tibor Agoston. Ohio: Department of Mental Hygiene & Correction, 1969, 334 pp.

In his attempt to cover the entire field of psychoanalysis, the author divides his book, obviously intended as a primer of therapy for beginning psychiatrists, into five divisions of unequal logical levels—historical background, psychosystematics, applied methodology, differential dynamics, and sexual deviations. Because of the enormous amount of material covered (reflected in the 203 items listed by page in the table of contents), each subject discussed—ranging from the topographic point of view through practically every individual aspect of theory, symptomatology, and technique—is presented in very brief fashion.

BASIC PSYCHOANALYTIC CONCEPTS ON THE LIBIDO THEORY. VOLUME I. Edited by Humberto Nagera et al. New York: Basic Books, 1969, 194 pp., $6.50.

This is the first of a series of four volumes (two currently published) resulting from a six-year study by a group of 15 analysts and child psychotherapists from The Hampstead Child-Therapy Clinic (the Director of which is Anna Freud). Carried on under the chairmanship of Dr. Nagera, this project's purpose is to assist in the understanding of psychoanalytic thought and terminology, to clarify concepts and trace the history of their evolution, to further the aim of reducing the confusion in current psychoanalytic literature by providing authors with more precise definitions of terms and concepts, and to facilitate the efforts of students of psychoanalysis to pursue independent courses of study with a critical and constructive approach to theory formation. This volume traces the development of Freud's ideas on the libido theory, the subject matter ranging from the "Source, Pressure, Aim and Object of the Sexual Component Instinct" to "The Castration Complex." An unusually detailed bibliography is provided.

BASIC PSYCHOANALYTIC CONCEPTS ON THE THEORY OF DREAMS. VOLUME II. Edited by Humberto Nagera et al. New York: