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The vogue for writing on medical subjects for the benefit of the layman goes on. Not all the publications so inspired can be commended as highly as this new book by Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, showing what has been discovered of the mental and emotional nature of man. Dr. Zilboorg has an international reputation as a medical historian, and his contributions to the psychiatric literature are many. Nevertheless, as far as the layman is concerned, the appeal of this book must still be a limited one, for it is not a work which can be read with ease by the average person. This is almost always the case with a truly scientific approach to the subject of psychiatry, and it is especially apt to be true in this case because of the discursive style used by the author. The thoughtful reader, however, as he goes on, will find that the book is well worth his time. It is replete with fascinating and valuable material.
Like most physicians who are writing for the general public, the author has first to combat the erroneous information and conceptions most people have regarding medicine and psychiatry. He points out that the psychiatrist has more negative material to impart than any other medical specialist, since in no other field are the misconceptions of the average man so protean. He finds that one of the most unfortunate obstacles to progress in treating mental patients is the tendency of the public to avoid seeing a psychiatrist for as long as possible, to seek help first from those ill equipped to supply it, including the psychologist, be he trained or untrained.
The author's emphasis on historical background, showing the influence of the past on the thinking of the present, is an interesting feature of the book. The work of Freud is clearly defined and vigorously upheld.
Some of the later chapters, which have broad social implications, are exceptionally well done. The last four, entitled respectively “Civilization and the Social Sciences,” “Varieties of Human Aggression,” “Crime and