In Decoding the Past, Peter Loewenberg has collected eleven of his brilliant essays on psychohistory, a discipline that has emerged from the synthesis of traditional historical analysis and clinical psychoanalysis. He surveys this relatively new field—its methods and its problems—to show the special contributions that psychoanalysis can make to history. He then further explores the psychohistorical method by applying it to studies of personality, cultures, groups, and mass movements, demonstrating that psychohistory offers one of the most powerful of interpretive approaches to history.
Decoding the Past is an impressive study that demonstrates the range of Loewenberg's own work in history and psychoanalysis and the full promise of an important and innovative methodology for others. His new essay takes up many of the criticisms and concerns raised about the method of psychohistory, and offers a cogent defense for its continued usage.
Table of Contents:
On Psychohistory; I: Psychoanalysis and History; Psychohistory; II: The Education of a Psychohistorian; Emotional Problems of Graduate Education; The Graduate Years; Love and Hate in the Academy; The Psychobiographical Background to Psychohistory; III: Austrian Portraits; Theodor Herzl; Victor and Friedrich Adler; Austro-Marxism and Revolution; IV: The German Case; The Unsuccessful Adolescence of Heinrich Himmler; The Psychohistorical Origins of the Nazi Youth Cohort
Review :
-[This book] is an important collection of essays on the controversial field of psychohistory by someone who has had full training, both hi history and psychoanalysis.-
--Peter Gay
-[T]his is a serious and thoughtful book for anyone interested in the possibility of extending history's manner of understanding itself.-
--David Weinberger, Philadelphia Inquirer
-Peter Loewenberg is the pre-eminent authority in the field of psychohistory. His excellently written essays provide readers with sophisticated and sensible psychohistory.-
--John J. Fitzpatrick, Choice
-Loewenberg has brought not only the method but also the sensitivity and dispassion of the psychoanalyst to his study of the past. He has contributed significantly to historical understanding, and done good service for the movement he represents.-
--Mark Silk, Boston Globe
"[This book] is an important collection of essays on the controversial field of psychohistory by someone who has had full training, both hi history and psychoanalysis."
--Peter Gay
"[T]his is a serious and thoughtful book for anyone interested in the possibility of extending history's manner of understanding itself."
--David Weinberger, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Peter Loewenberg is the pre-eminent authority in the field of psychohistory. His excellently written essays provide readers with sophisticated and sensible psychohistory."
--John J. Fitzpatrick, Choice
"Loewenberg has brought not only the method but also the sensitivity and dispassion of the psychoanalyst to his study of the past. He has contributed significantly to historical understanding, and done good service for the movement he represents."
--Mark Silk, Boston Globe
"[This book] is an important collection of essays on the controversial field of psychohistory by someone who has had full training, both hi history and psychoanalysis."
--Peter Gay
"[T]his is a serious and thoughtful book for anyone interested in the possibility of extending history's manner of understanding itself."
--David Weinberger, "Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Peter Loewenberg is the pre-eminent authority in the field of psychohistory. His excellently written essays provide readers with sophisticated and sensible psychohistory."
--John J. Fitzpatrick, "Choice"
"Loewenberg has brought not only the method but also the sensitivity and dispassion of the psychoanalyst to his study of the past. He has contributed significantly to historical understanding, and done good service for the movement he represents."
--Mark Silk, "Boston Globe"
