Freud. The Making of an Illusion

From the master of Freud debunkers, the biography that finally and definitively puts an end to the myth of psychoanalysis and its creator

Since the 1970s, Sigmund Freud's scientific reputation has been in an accelerating tailspin. Nonetheless, the idea persists that some of Freud's contributions were visionary discoveries of lasting value. In Freud: The Making of a Wizard, Frederick Crews investigates these discoveries and reveals findings that will revolutionize our conception of the therapist, the theorist, and the human being.

With unusual access to archives not yet publically available, Crews sheds new light on Freud's character, values, and conduct. He gives the full account of Freud's fifteen-year involvement with cocaine; he explores Freud's early struggles as a physician; his relations with eminent mentors; his case histories—some of which involved "patients" who didn't exist; the misogyny that haunted his private and professional life;...