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As mentioned in the introduction the original idea for this volume was that it be a “Festschrift” for Michael Foulkes. It is, therefore, not surprising that this book has all the strengths but also all the weaknesses of a commemorative volume that draws together contributions from 22 authors. Amongst the “strengths” must be numbered the fact that there are some very impressive papers in this volume well worth reading, and that the breadth of contribution from the various authors gives an excellent picture of the nature and contributions of Foulkes's earliest co-workers and provides a sound historical perspective for the development of the “Group Analytic school of Group Psychotherapy”. One cannot, however, but draw the conclusion that some of the contributions were included not on the basis of merit but on the basis of the members having been original members of the Foulkes circle and hence perhaps difficult to exclude from a “Festschrift”. Applying the idea of “the group” to the contributors in this volume, I had the feeling that some were more concerned with confirming their special relationship with Michael Foulkes or expressing their particular devotion to him rather than pursuing his or their own ideas about group analysis — but then, perhaps inevitably, this is to be expected in a commemorative volume.
Michael Foulkes (born 1898 in Germany as Siegmund Heinrich Fuchs) qualified in medicine in Frankfurt in 1923 and trained in psychoanalysis in Vienna — his psycho-analyst having been Dr. Helene Deutsch. He worked in Frankfurt where he was in charge of the clinic for the psycho-analytic institute. In 1933 he left Germany for England where he re-qualified in medicine at Edinburgh. In 1940 he started conducting his first groups privately and also at the Exeter Child Guidance Clinic. In 1942 he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and was posted to the Northfield Military Hospital — the birthplace of a great many innovations in the field of group and institutional work