Men, Mind and Power: By David Abrahamsen, M.D. New York: Columbia University Press, 1945. 155 pp.

Dr. Abrahamsen's book is presented as 'a clear, psychologically sound analysis of the mentality of a maladjusted German people and their leaders'. In an initial chapter on The Riddle of the German Spirit, the author condenses German history into a few pages to support the thesis that the Germans always 'were resistant to the thoughts of freedom' and never knew 'how to adjust to the fair desires and demands of other people'. After a chapter on Why Germans Became Nazis, in which the transition is described as one of degree rather than kind, the author presents a series of case histories of various German and collaborationist individuals. His concluding chapter on Remolding Minds offers suggestions on methods of coping with the German 'war mind.'

Unfortunately Dr. Abrahamsen writes less as a scientist than as a Norwegian patriot settling scores with the enemies of his homeland and of the liberal political principles he holds dear. In the entire book the only reference to a source in psychological literature other than the author's own writings is a single sentence suggesting an identity of view between Freud and Jung in support of Dr. Abrahamsen's belief that 'the Germans have a soul in common'. On the other hand, there is a proliferation of unsupported assumptions and sweeping oversimplifications remarkable even in a work of frank vulgarization plainly intended for a somewhat less than literate public. Instead of analyzing or even dispassionately describing German mentality, the author assembles uncritical statements to make a propaganda case. All the generalizations