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Young, of Queens College London, has written a huge volume—“designed essentially to be a college text in courses dealing with the psychology of personality or with problems of mental hygiene, and to serve as an orientation to the interplay of personality, society, and culture.” There are 868 large and full pages, probably in the vicinity of 1000 items in the bibliography, and a relatively skimpy 12 page index.
A book of such large proportions and inclusive eclectic design is obviously a product of labor and love and all the better for it. No field seems to hide long and silently under Young's rangy perspective. Psychoanalysis, gestalt psychology, etc., almost any approach that might help in a solution of the problems of personality here find place. Naturally there are little inaccuracies and discrepancies here and there.
For this review it would be in place, probably, to notice the needless introduction of slang (p. 277) to describe a psychoanalytic technique. Preciously few of Freud's followers give much concern to the theory of Life and Death Instincts, contrary to the view given (p. 63). All in all, Young is quite fair to psychoanalysis. Perhaps in time he will absorb more of the fundamental views only to be found in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and the Psychoanalytic Review with its massive abstract material. Young has used some of the lighter analytic material rather than such fundamental landmarks as those indicated by Jones, Abraham and Ferenczi—essential in any study of personality.
This reviewer will go on record as saying that the author has turned out an excellent text book that should take the place of some of the static psychological texts now used in some universities. An assignation of labor can only be a compliment to an individual of industry and so it is hoped that Young will include all of the many terms defined throughout the text in his index of perhaps a second edition. Thus, for example, it is unfortunate that although excellent ma