I was excited at the prospect of reviewing a book called, Understanding Psychoanalysis. As most practitioners of the art (or is it a science?) will tell you, we still long, no matter how experienced, to ‘get hold’ of psychoanalysis. Sadly, however, this moment was followed by disappointment: this book was written not by practitioners, but by two philosophers. Moreover, as the back cover alarmingly brought to my attention, these ‘leading psychoanalytic theorists’ would be covering such diverse topics as post-structuralism, cultural theory and feminism. My suspicions aroused, I glanced at the index and found that neither randomised controlled trials nor evidence-based medicine got a mention. I was beginning to wonder why it had been chosen for review?

To my relief, I was soon to learn that this book was to be a mind-expanding experience. The authors manage with great skill to communicate the fundamental tenets of key figures in the psychoanalytic pantheon. These include the obvious such as Freud and Klein (with a smattering on Winnicott and Bion), as well as the less obvious – to a British audience at lest – like Lacan. Helpfully, a key points format is used throughout to summarise arcane, and sometimes dense, psychoanalytic and philosophical concepts.

Freud in particular is brought to life. At a time when his obituary is habitually rehearsed, his ideas are presented in a way that is thoroughly of the moment and apposite – see, for example, what he has to teach us about the compulsive nature of the addictions and self-harm. The authors revisit his meta-psychological outpourings in a way that is accessible and vibrant. We are also treated to a re-reading of the Freudian text at a time when there is an attack on complexity and a hatred of dependency. There is no easy sense here that those with profound mental illness are engaged in recovery, or that depression and anxiety will be dealt with after a course of computerised therapy or short-term cognitive–behavioural therapy, wherein, psychoanalytically speaking, the idealised world of the all-giving breast will be finally realised.

So, setting aside minor technical quibbles, and allowing for the omission of the recent work on mentalisation, if you are after a little time away from achieving your targets and returning, even if for the first time, to thinking about your patients in a way that does justice to the bewildering, sometimes grotesque, glory that is humankind, then this book comes highly recommended.