Cassandra's Daughter: A History of Psychoanalysis

To demonstrate the important contribution psychoanalysis can make to the future investigation of ""human relational needs,"" Schwartz, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and author (Einstein for Beginners), offers a history of psychoanalysis and especially of the development of object-relations theory. Although the book does not add any fresh details to the often-told story of the development of psychoanalytic theory, it does present a distinctly British perspective on the main personal, political and social events that have shaped psychoanalysis from Freud to the present, including a discussion of the writings and personalities of figures like Melanie Klein, Ronald Fairbairn and others. Writing for a general audience, Schwartz avoids an extended discussion of the theoretical differences between the various schools and instead emphasizes the value of the general psychoanalytic endeavor to understanding the interior life of the individual. He also defends the theoretical and methodological integrity of psychoanalysis against those who attack its lack of scientific rigor with a thoughtful and well-argued account of why the discipline, as an investigation of the human subject, requires a method of inquiry that can never adhere to the scientific method employed in the study of objects. Unlike many shrill attacks and defenses of psychoanalysis, this book focuses neither on character assassination nor hagiography, but rather on what is interesting and still worthwhile in the attempt to gain understanding through talking--and listening. (Sept.)