SOURCE: Lewis, Thomas T. Review of Freud: A Life for Our Time, by Peter Gay. Humanist 49, no. 3 (May–June 1989): 44.

In the following review, Lewis offers a positive assessment of Freud: A Life for Our Time, commenting that the work is “probably the most scholarly one-volume biography of Freud in any language.”

A distinguished Yale historian as well as a trained psychoanalyst, Peter Gay has written what is probably the most scholarly one-volume biography of Freud in any language. In addition to fascinating material on Freud's personal life, the book [Freud: A Life for Our Time] includes analysis of Freud's writings and ideas. Gay has done exhaustive research, and the bibliographical essay is full of cogent and perceptive comments about the relevant literature.

The main weakness of the book is that Gay has such a commitment to the Freudian paradigm that he fails to maintain a critical stance. Frequently...