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Of the flood of books at present appearing on the subject of psycho-analysis very few are of any serious value; indeed, apart from Freud's works, the useful books in English can easily be counted on the fingers of two hands. To take a single example; on the wrapper of the present book thirty-three volumes are advertised as being 'Notable Books on Psycho-Analysis'; of these eight are hardly or not at all concerned with psycho-analysis, eighteen are ill-informed or misleading, three are of indifferent value, and only four, i.e. twelve per cent of the whole, can be regarded as serious contributions to the literature of the subject. It is, therefore, all the greater pleasure to come across a new book which like the present one belongs to the valuable class.
Dr. Forsyth has rightly perceived that there is a palpable lack of a book on this topic, and he has here attempted to fill it on the basis of his own personal experience and his knowledge of the literature of the subject. It can be said at once that up to a certain point he has admirably succeeded in this aim and has produced a book which must prove of great practical value to workers in psycho-analysis; the slight reservation indicated in this statement will be explained presently.
The book begins with a chapter on the analyst, followed by one on the prerequisites of the treatment, and then has four on the treatment itself. In the first chapter Dr. Forsyth rightly insists on the importance of the analyst's own analysis and selects narcissism as being the greatest obstacle to becoming a good analyst. In the second chapter he deals not only with the selection of cases, but with a number of matters to do with the arrangements of the details of treatment which beginners are apt to regard as trivial; they would be well advised, however, to follow strictly the lines here laid down, for all of which experience shews there is good reason. The part of the book dealing with the treatment proper is also full of wisdom and