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Elisabeth Young-Bruehl has written a most comprehensive biography of Anna Freud. The author had access to new data, papers, letters, poetry and stories which have opened a vista into her subject's inner life, childhood, and adolescence. Anna Freud's remarkable achievements and her continuous struggle to tame her own conflicts are presented in the wider context of the psychoanalytic Zeitgeist, the evolvement of a psychoanalytic body of knowledge, and the network of relationships with those who remained loyal to her father and psychoanalysis and those who eventually turned away.
Before I began to read this biography, I was concerned that it might be too early for such a definite study, that more time might be needed to locate the historical role of Anna Freud in psychoanalysis and to assess her lasting contributions. In addition, since Anna Freud's shyness protected her deep sense of privacy and was reinforced by so many wild attacks on her father, it was difficult to open doors to a private life she wished had remained forever closed. But these concerns were soon and easily allayed by the impact of the author's multiple talents and were replaced by an increasing sense of esteem for her writing, her ability to integrate complex strains of history, and her method of investigation. Young-Bruehl makes clear just what has been documented and whether the inferences drawn are close to the information available.
The chapter headings of this book reveal the wide terrain presented, the author's scope of reference, and her selection of what she considers to be the significant issues in the stages of Anna Freud's life. There is 'Annerl', 'In times of war and death', 'Being analyzed', 'Psychoanalysis and politics', 'Mechanisms of defense', 'Another life', 'Creativity and science', 'The director', 'In the face of enemy forces', 'Future and past', and finally a 'Postscript'. Thus the organizing themes change from external events, to Anna Freud's scientific contributions and fi