Centres and Peripheries of Psychoanalysis: An Introduction to Psychoanalytic Studies edited by Richard Ekins and Ruth Freeman London:  Karnac Books, 1994,  xv + 246 pp., $19.95.

This book poses an immediate question for me as its reviewer, namely, how well does it fulfill its stated aim of offering an introduction to psychoanalysis for university students? As Ekins states, “This book is designed to meet the needs of students who seek, in one volume, a text that places emphasis upon core concepts and clinical material but reflects at the same time the range of applications in therapy and in the psychoanalytic study of culture and society” (pp. 1-2). These are the “centres” and “peripheries” of the book's title. With all due respect to the book's contributors, I have to conclude that it falls far short of this objective. For example, the first chapter discusses Anna Freud, and the second deals with Klein and Fairbairn; but there is no chapter on the contributions of Sigmund Freud. I assume that, to accomplish the editors' stated goal, the book would include a list of suggested readings to guide university students to some classic works. The 17 pages of references in this book omit the excellent introductory texts of Brenner (1973), Lichtenberg (1985), and Viorst (1986) but include several articles on “glossodynia” (painful tongue). I would also expect a glossary of selected psychoanalytic terms, which this book does not have.

On the other hand, if one approaches this book as a collection of nine chapters dealing with a variety of psychoanalytic topics, I believe it succeeds admirably and has much to offer a wide range of readers, including university students and practicing psychoanalysts. What links the various chapters are primarily the personal and professional affiliations of the authors, all of whom reside in Northern Ireland and were influenced by Thomas Freeman. The seven contributors include one fully trained psychoanalyst (Thomas Freeman himself), four psychoanalytic candidates, and two psychoanalytic psychotherapists. The book is enriched by the