The Complete Psychiatrist: The Achievements of Paul H. Hoch, M.D. Nolan D. C. Lewis and Margaret O. Strahl (Eds.). Albany, New York:  State University of New York Press, 1968.  xvii + 723 pp.

This book deserves to be widely read by psychiatrists and allied professions. It is a memorial to an outstanding psychiatrist who dedicated his life to the solution of the most controversial and difficult problems of mental illness. Dr. Paul Hoch tried to answer questions which at first sight were unanswerable, bringing to them an incisive, analytic mind, and a style which was his trademark. His method reflected pragmatism. He was always oriented towards practical solutions. He was an activist in scientific research and seemed to be endowed with an inexhaustible capacity for work. He was always goal oriented and, after investing a great amount of time and effort to one particular hypothesis, was ready to give it up for more fruitful avenues. Hoch's formulations were crisp, illuminating and often had shock effect. This mild-mannered man was a revolutionary when progress in his chosen field of endeavor was an issue.

This reviewer remembers Paul H. Hoch as a teacher. He always impressed me by his style and his precise formulations. He never avoided complicated issues and usually came up with decisive and