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This lovely book has been introduced with much fanfare, which leads one to believe it is a very important contribution to the psychoanalytic literature. The accolades both impress and make one curious if they actually portend a really satisfying read with much value to be had. There is a foreword and a prologue written by luminaries such as Harold Blum and Horace Etchegoyen, as well
as a preface and an introduction by the author. I think the praise expressed is well earned.
The title Pioneers of Child Psychoanalysis suggests that this book may be a biographical account of these analysts and that their theories are a smaller part of the book. This turns out to not be the case. In practically every chapter that details the lives and interests of the foremost influences on child analysis and child development, there are carefully wrought, succinctly explained descriptions of the theoretical and clinical positions that these analysts have taken and what their thinking has come to mean to the practice of contemporary analytic therapy and developmental psychology. The book, which offers glimpses into the economic, political, and personal aspects of the lives of these pioneers becomes most rich and fulfilling during the explanations of their theories and their place in the historical theory building in the field of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Others might find the description of Freud's life, his attitudes toward his followers, dissidents, and his family, as well as other analysts' personal history, equally compelling. Articulating the sequential development of analytic thinking and the influence certain analysts have had on subsequent generations is part of the narrative exposition.
A good example of how one's early life experience can impact one's theoretical interest is John Bowlby. His early life was fraught with premature separations and losses and a lack of affection (p. 173). Understanding that piece of his history added an additional dimension when thinking a