This is the second edition of the remarkable -Inside Lives-, expanded with a chapter on the last years of the life cycle. It provides a perspective on the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and the nature of human development which has not been available in written form. A volume from the Tavistock Clinic Series, this book traces the interplay between influences - internal and external - which contribute to a person's character strength and sense of identity.

Literature is recognised as having significantly influenced the development of modern psychoanalytic thought. In recent years psychoanalysis has drawn increasingly on the literary and artistic traditions of western culture and moved away from its original medical-scientific context. Originally published in 1991 The Chamber of Maiden Thought (Keats's metaphor for 'the awakening of the thinking principle') is an original and revealing exploration of the seminal role of literature in forming the modern psychoanalytic model of the mind. The crux of the 'post-Kleinian' psychoanalytic view of...