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This book was begun in 1939 and had gone through four mimeographed editions before it assumed its present form. Dr. Symonds, professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, had read “not only each of the 883 references in the (annotated) bibliography but perhaps twice as many titles which were not included.” Among those whom the author consulted personally were the following psychoanalysts: Drs. J. Chassell, O. Fenichel, E. Kris, K. Menninger, H. Murray, and T. Reik. “Material included in the book is based largely on the results of clinical studies and case material reported in the published literature. My own case experience is limited to child guidance. As I review this book, now that it is finished, I find that it leads to the conclusion that reason and intellect are dethroned as the principal factors in adjustment. This book would make adjustment primarily a matter of the reactions to frustration and the individual's attempts to avoid anxiety.” The aim of the book is described by its author as “a text of dynamic psychological principles for psychological counselors in whatever profession they may be working—psychology, psychiatry, or social work.” The author emphasizes a rather new teaching viewpoint in the psychological and educational departments of the universities by saying “this book should not be classified as a book on psychopathology: the dynamic processes herein described apply equally to the normal and to the abnormal.”
Professor Symond's most recent and imposing contribution is very important for several reasons. In the first place, it is very comprehensive, summarizing a vast amount of published material in a concise and methodical manner. In its scope it compares with Fenichel's Outline of Clinical Psychoanalysis. It differs from Fenichel's textbook by stressing less the psychosexual gratifications and frustrations as determinants of symptoms or character traits; by a more complete inclusion of experimental results relevant to analyt