Muriel Gardiner Knihy

This book presents Freud's writings that initiated a new way of understanding the child’s psychic world, set against the cultural backdrop of early 20th-century Europe, where the 'innocence' of children was an untouchable dogma. Some of these writings have become classics, sparking curiosity and interest beyond the realm of specialists, such as "Little Hans" (1919) and "The Wolf-Man" (1914). It includes other essays like "The Sexual Education of Children" (1907) and "Childhood Sexual Theories" (1908), allowing readers to gain a comprehensive view of the child’s psychic world. This extensive overview of psychoanalytic thought on the issues of child psychic development is essential for parents, educators, and teachers who wish to understand the complex and rich world of children.

The Wolf-Man was the subject of what James Strachey described as 'the most elaborate and no doubt the most important of all Freud's case histories'. He was still living in Vienna more than half a century after his analysis with Freud. In this remarkable biographical account, the Wolf-Man comes alive not only through Freud's case history, which is reprinted in full, and Ruth Mack Brunswick's account of the follow-up analysis she conducted, but also through his own autobiographical memoirs covering his childhood in Russia, his recollections of Freud, his marriage, and the circumstances of his life in Vienna after the First World War. The story of the Wolf-Man's later years is told by the author, who kept in close touch with him following the shattering suicide of his wife in 1938.