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This volume by Albrecht Hirschmüller was originally published in German in 1978. It was based on the author's doctoral dissertation for the Institute of the History of Medicine at the University of Tübingen. The book's strength is that it is an extensive and excellent resource of information for the serious scholar interested in the history of science. In a total of 514 pages, there are 93 pages of footnotes, 114 pages of letters and documents, and 71 pages of bibliography. The 206 pages of text are highly condensed, requiring the reader to make continual reference to the source material.
Extremely comprehensive, this book is also the only biography of Breuer published in English. Breuer's life and his intellectual and research interests are discussed in terms of his involvement with the important philosophical and medical issues of nineteenth century Europe. His work in physiology is extensively detailed. It is presented against the background of the prevailing and competing scientific theories of the time.
For the psychoanalytic reader, the book's value is primarily informational. Hirschmüller discusses how Breuer's scientific work and theoretical ideas in physiology informed his contributions to Studies on Hysteria. The 1882 Kreuzlingen report of Breuer's treatment of Anna O is presented for the first time in its entirety. This fourteen-page report by Breuer was written during and immediately after Anna O's treatment at the Bellevue Sanitorium in Kreuzlingen from July 12 to October 29, 1881. The report discusses the detailed development of her symptoms and her morphine addiction. It provides more explicit history about family members than was available before. The interested reader can compare and contrast the account with the discussion Breuer wrote for Studies on Hysteria. Included also are a number of letters written by Breuer, by the patient, and by relatives, which were unearthed by