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Only many years of experience in teaching the basic literature of psychoanalysis could have laid the groundwork for this excellent volume which, with admirable economy of thought, traces the development of psychoanalysis from its inception through to the present period.
The first three sections of Dr. Fine's book deal, respectively, with the earliest beginnings of psychoanalysis from 1886 to 1900. These include the historical roots of analysis, Freud's theoretical formulations derived from his first clinical experiences and from the insights gleaned through his self-analysis. Part Two embraces Freud's initial formulations of the libido theory as well as the writings pertaining to topographic and economic concepts, to resistance and to transference. It covers the salient features of five case histories and contains material on the relevance of psychoanalysis to anthropology and art. Part Three deals with the writings from 1914 to 1939 which provide the basis of ego psychology.
To the fullest extent possible the author, in the above sections, allows Freud to speak for himself. He adheres faithfully to the source material and provides a remarkably well-integrated exposition of the evolution of Freud's thought. As such, the greater portion of the volume should prove invaluable when it is used by the student as a study guide to lend direction to the reading of Freud's original texts.
Part Four, “Retrospect and Prospect,” is somewhat less fortunate. As a discursive effort to summarize more recent theoretical developments and to discuss the various schools of analysis it is destined to fail, not because Dr. Fine's ideas are without interest, but simply because of his excessive brevity. This reviewer cannot resist the comment, however, that for one who has in recent years espoused orthodoxy more militantly than most, it is singularly unconvincing to read his statement that “basically today we are all freudians no matter what name we are called.”
Whether or not one agrees with a