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Following the pattern of its seven predecessors this eighth volume offers a number of previously published works portraying implicitly a cross section of the psychoanalytic literature of 1951. It contains twenty-four scientific contributions including delightful historical spotlights, stimulating theoretical formulations, valuable clinical advice, and intriguing excursions into allied fields. One might perhaps undertake a more detailed appraisal of the individual papers, but the critique of the present book appears to rest more profitably with the question of its value as a total unit and its intended service to the reading public.
When the first yearbook was introduced in 1945, the late A. A. Brill suggested in the one and only foreword that has ever prefaced any volume of the series: '… we agreed with Doctor Lorand that it would be wise to publish annually a volume consisting of psychoanalytic works which would be of interest to physicians, psychologists, anthropologists and laymen who have no access to all of the psychoanalytic publications'. Considering the exacting standard of the Yearbook, with most of its articles covering highly technical and specialized topics, it would seem that a reader would have to be actively engaged in psychoanalytic work and thoroughly acquainted with the current literature to profit materially from its intricate contents, and that conversely a reader without these prerequisites would gain but superficial impressions. It is plausible therefore to assume that an individual belonging to Dr. Brill's category had become familiar with most if not all of the papers when they were