This is a fascinating book. As a counsellor and psychology graduate I really enjoyed reading about both the personal lives and the historical background of the psychotherapists. It only touches on the theories each developed so it’s a book more of social interest than instruction. I enjoyed it.

I’m not quite certain of the intended audience for this one. I was, I think, hoping for more of the kind of ‘from the psychiatrists chair’ thoughtful exposition of different analytic styles. This seemed to dwell more on the profession and personal power struggles between different, generally male, giants in the field, and the often horrifying overstepping of boundaries engaged in by many. The tone was at once racy, but sometimes a little dry, and as it dipped and darted about, backwards and forwards, I was not always able to sort out clear lines of development in my own mind Perhaps some of the problems for me arose from the fact that this is a translation from the original German, and occasionally sentences seemed a little stiff, and strangely structured. Perhaps also I had too personal a response, bridling at a comment calling Viktor Frankl ‘Too clever for his own good’, for his depth of reading. Frankl is one of the figures who particularly resonates for me, as a visionary Nonetheless I was grateful to receive this as an ARC