Kurzweil states that the life experiences of immigrant analysts, including Rudolph Loewenstein, Ernst Kris, and Heinz Hartmann, influenced their theories of ego psychology and adaptation. All experienced the trauma of forced dislocation from Europe in the 1930’s. They furthered their professional acceptance by adapting to the culture of the United States as quickly as possible. One way of doing this was by stressing the “scientific” aspect of analysis. Their struggles in the United States also led to their introspection on the subject of adaptation. The author recounts the history of their immigration and highlights the aid given by American analysts. She chronicles the analytic history of the 1940’s, including the splits in the New York Psychoanalytic Society and the application of psychoanalytic thinking to the war effort. The émigrés spread psychoanalytic ideas to child rearing, social work, general medicine, social science, and literature.