Psycho-analysis: A Brief Account of the Freudian Theory

What it is

This is a short book written by Barbara Low in 1920, with an introduction by Ernest Jones, president of the British Psycho-Analytical Society. It is meant to explain Freud's theories to a general audience in plain language.

Why it matters

This book shows how psychoanalysis was being popularized and taught to non-specialists only a few decades after Freud began developing his ideas. The involvement of Ernest Jones, a leading figure in the psychoanalytic movement, shows how organized and established the field had become by 1920.

Look closer

• Why might someone write a "brief account" of a complicated theory for ordinary readers?
• What does the introduction by a prominent psychoanalyst suggest about the book's purpose?
• What parts of Freud's theory might get simplified or left out in a short, popular account?