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August Forel, one of the outstanding members of the older generation of psychiatrists, has written the story of his life and work. It is the case history of a lonely, nearly psychotic child of a melancholic, Calvinistic mother, a child whose only friends were some ants. He became a rebellious son, but in his rebellion remained obedient to the ascetic ideals of his mother. His institution, the hospital in Burghölzi became the first modern hospital for the insane. He was the outstanding leader and one of the founders of the anti-alcoholic movement. He was a progressive Democrat and called himself a Socialist. He very courageously wrote the first book about sexual education and normal sexuality, but he could never attain to an understanding attitude towards psychoanalysis.
These memories are written by himself after suffering a stroke which he has survived for twenty years. If there were nothing in the book besides the description by a neurologist and psychiatrist of his own apoplexia, his reactions to it, and the manner of his improvement, the book would still be worth reading.