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This volume contains the Messenger Lectures given a Cornell University in the fall of 1947. It is notable that both Menninger brothers seem to have the natural knack of popularization in its best sense. The three lectures comprising this small volume represent that particular talent at its very best. Drawing on his large experience In many fields of psychiatry as well as his thorough knowledge of the vast literature of the field, the lecturer was able to give an unusually concise and accurate portrayal of the background of the evolution of this branch of medicine and a picture of its present state. This first lecture covering the first fifty pages is as good a picture of the growth, development and dynamism of psychiatric history as one could hope to give a lay audience.
The second lecture (chapter 2) on psychoanalytic psychiatry and its contribution to the understanding of behavior is eminently outstanding as a careful, accurate and simple account of the knowledge gained by way of freudian theory. From some remarks made by lay friends who read the book, I can realize how it clarified their thinking and deepened their understanding of the confusing mass of analytic material at least in respect to its basic concepts. This chapter is a tribute to the fine expository style of the lecturer.
The third lecture and/or chapter on psychiatry and the social order gives the author an opportunity to really lay bare the ramifications, possibilities and tremendous significance of psychiatry in relation to the social disciplines and problems of this restless world. “Psychiatry is