In this book, David Bell explores Freud's oeuvre starting with some of the earliest papers. He situates this work within the context of culture and the history of ideas. Covering such key topics as narcissism, the nature of truth and illusion, and what constitutes knowledge within and outside analytic settings, the chapters take one of Freuds key works and offers an exegesis of that work. With a deep understanding of Freud's work and its place in contemporary psychoanalytic and cultural spheres, this is key reading for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, historians of idea and anyone wanting to better understand the continued importance of Freud's enduring significance.

David Bell, is a training analyst and a former president of the British Psychoanalytic Society. He spent twenty-five years as a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust where he founded and led a new service for patients with long standing serious psychological disorder.