The New York Times sees this book as a 'judicious, original biography, scrupulously grounded in close readings of work' The Washington Post believes it is the most comprehensive, complete, and detailed biography of Freud to date. Although Freud destroyed large numbers of manuscripts before his death, Gay read through almost everything remaining he could get his hands on he made this biography all the more precious by integrating this wealth of material into a coherent whole. It is written with dynamism and fine attention to detail. The book interweaves the historical macrocosm with the microcosm of an individual life.

In this bookey, we will unlock a work that sets his biography and achievements in psychoanalysis in their historical context. On the other side, critics call him a Jew who converted to Roman Catholicism, a misled psychologist, and a dictator in the field of psychoanalysis, even describing Freud as a plagiarist and a swindling Cagliostro. On the one hand, supporters see him as a master, a giant, and a cultural hero, a mentor who could guide people to the hidden regions of the mind. In recent years, however, there have been constant debate on Freud's intellectual legacy. It is fair to argue that the entirety of human thought in the 20th century had been influenced, more or less, by Freudian psychoanalysis. Without his work, we would lack the deepest understanding of ourselves. Speaking of Freud, people will generally comment that he was a genius. He shook-up the world, created myths, and became a myth. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis has changed the way we perceive ourselves and others. They influence everyone’s outlook and permeate every aspect of our lives. His psychoanalytic theories are an inescapable theme of contemporary intellectual life. Today we will unlock the book Freud: A life for our time.Īs you may already know, Sigmund Freud was an Austrian-Jewish psychiatrist, psychologist, and the founder of psychoanalysis.

Freud by Peter Gay