This book tackles three issues, all interdependent, which are central to psychoanlytic theory and practice. It deals, first, with psychoanalysis as a scientific discipline; it considers, second, the role of language in the neurotic process; and, in the light of such considerations, it examines, third, the nature of psychoanalytic therapy.

Lorenzer does not exhaust these issues—who could? But in 211 pages he covers astonishing ground, and he writes succinctly and unpolemically. He is clearly on top of present-day