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Between Freud and Klein contains the collected papers of Adam Limentani. Born in Italy and trained as a physician and a psychiatrist there before becoming a psychoanalyst in England, Limentani has an international perspective. He has held the highest offices in the psychoanalytic profession as president of both the British Psychoanalytical Society and the International Psychoanalytical Association. Of his 16 papers contained in this book, 15 have been published elsewhere. The earliest appeared in print in 1967 and the most recent in 1987. Nearly half have appeared in the two periodicals of the International Psychoanalytical Association and others in less well-known European psychoanalytic journals. Perhaps for this reason, Limentani's papers are not widely known to the American readership. This is unfortunate, because Limentani has something truly significant to offer. His work is authentic yet deeply rooted in tradition, elegant yet unpretentious, and simple yet wise. The publication of Limentani's scattered writings together in one place is therefore a welcome event.
The book provides much to ponder, beginning with its connotatively rich title. I do not know whether Limentani intended it this way or not, but to me the title suggests two somewhat different meanings, both equally applicable to the book. The first meaning assumes that Freud and Klein in the book's title stand for Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein. This interpretation emphasizes that both oedipal (Sigmund Freud) and preoedipal (Melanie Klein) factors need to be taken into account in the attempt to understand addictions, perversions, homosexuality, transsexualism,