This large and dense book is the first of a two-volume history of the introduction, diffusion and practice of psychoanalysis in France. It studies the period that starts in 1885—when Freud went to Paris and met Charcot for the first time—and ends in 1939 at the outbreak of the war. The second volume, to be published in 1984, will cover the more recent events until 1981, the year of Lacan's death.

The simple fact that this is the first complete history of this period of psychoanalysis in France to be published makes this book fundamental reading for all those who are interested in the historical development of psychoanalysis. But this work goes much beyond a simple presentation of 'facts', raising both explicitly and implicitly several issues that deserve comment.

Roudinesco's conception of historical time is