Emanuel Miller (Editor): Foundations of Child Psychiatry.  Pergamon Press, 1968. £12.

Anyone in need of a general introduction to the field of child psychology and psychiatry would find this book of great value. Twenty-eight chapters by different authors cover a wide range of topics. The editor, Emanuel Miller, is scrupulous in pointing out that the book is not all-embracing, and the reader will find certain imbalances. There is, for instance, an entire chapter devoted to the Griffiths Mental Development Scale, although many psychologists would seriously question the usefulness of this scale. But such imbalances are few, and most chapters are by recognised experts. There is Luria on the directive function of speech, and Creak on psychosis in childhood. Some chapters are small books in themselves: critical studies of virtually all the important work in one area; these have comprehensive reference lists appended. Outstanding in this latter group is Anthony Ambrose's article on Ethology, which fully documents the comparative approach to child development.

This book would enlarge the horizons of the psychotherapist, but would be of little immediate value to him in his work, since he would already be acquainted with the content of the psycho-analytic contributions. Psychoanalytic theory is well represented by Anna Freud and Gillespie. There is Anna Freud's 1962 article on the diagnostic profile, “The Assessment of Childhood Disturbances”. Gillespie contributes a summary of the psycho-analytic theory of child development which is remarkable for its conciseness and clarity. Psycho-analytic therapy is represented less well: by only one of five chapters on various types of therapy. But this one chapter is by Winnicott, and its quality goes some way to make up for its solitary state. In addition to giving an account of one of his unique consultations, Winnicott is careful to point out the difference between the technique of such brief therapy and that of psychoanalysis proper, and he notes that where psycho-analysis is the treatment of choice (and availability)