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Dr. Macdonald has written a book which well merits both the first and second titles he has chosen. The second title, 'A Guide to Psychiatric Examinations for the Criminal Courts, ' describes most accurately what the book is about. The style is lucid and attractive, just sufficiently anecdotal to stimulate interest without causing any break in the sequence of ideas and themes.
Chapter 1, 'The Origin of Criminal Behaviour, ' is the most interesting part of the book from a psycho-analytical viewpoint. In this section, the author manages in a very small space to condense a great deal of information about sociological and biological factors in the aetiology of criminal behaviour, before going on to consider the psycho-logical and psychodynamic factors in more detail. One of the merits of the book is that the author culls information from many fields of endeavour, and he has so integrated the material that there is no incongruity. Everything has been well metabolized. Due regard is paid to the contribution which has been made through psycho-analysis to the understanding of crime and the criminal. In particular reference is made to Freud's paper 'Some Character Types met with in Psycho-analytic Practice—Criminals from a Sense of Guilt'. It was of this particular paper of Freud's that Jones wrote that most of the modern work on the psychology of criminals and delinquents stems therefrom. Reference is made also to the work of Aichhorn, Alexander, and other workers in the field of the psychopathology of delinquency. Bowlby's work on the psychopathology of delinquents in their family setting is also mentioned.
The section dealing with the interviewing of the defendant is essentially practical and reveals the great experience of the author in Court work. It is primarily a factual and sensible guide to others who wish to or must work in this field.
The rest of the book is more psychiatrically orientated, and the various syndromes are dealt with systematically, from that