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A page count of Freud's 25 volumes reveals that the master wrote literally more on nonclinical topics than on clinical psychoanalysis. The broad sweep of Freud's genius is embodied in his voluminous writings on nonclinical topics from art through religion, from social problems through global war. At no time did Freud ignore his responsibility to communities, to nations, and to those not familiar with psychoanalytic jargon. In fact, besides his interest in the neurobiological underpinnings of our science, he was a model for all professionals, as a man of letters, a Renaissance man, friend of H. G. Wells, and a highly respected peripheral member of the famous Bloomsbury group representing the literati of England at the turn of the century. Unfortunately, besides a sprinkling of interest in such applications as art, film, literature, and music, psychoanalytic applications have been scattered and often not creative. There has been, instead, an almost exclusive focus on psychoanalysis as a treatment for psychiatric illness.
In contrast, it is appropriate that a center with the tradition of the Austen Riggs Center would sponsor, on its 75th anniversary, an outstanding collection of papers edited by Edward Shapiro and representing some of the better contemporary minds applied to the staggering issues that face our global and individual communities. This collection of nine papers spans the field of application of psychoanalytic thinking from social problems on the most global level to trends within human subcultures derived from the individual analytic treatment of patients. Edward Shapiro, the CEO of the Austen Riggs Center, is well known for his work Lost in Familiar Places, a model of readable psychoanalytic conceptualization that continues to be of great use to organizations and groups. I consider it an honor to review a book of this stature and