This book is a treatise on the history of American psychology's role in nuclear war prevention. So writes Marilyn S. Jacobs in the preface to "American Psychology in the Quest for Nuclear Peace." This timely and important study will facilitate the work of those psychologists who wish to use their knowledge and expertise in the cause of nuclear war prevention. Jacobs places the psychologist's struggle for nuclear peace in historical perspective and examines the complicated context in which the threat of nuclear war is embedded; one which is influenced by international relations, economic and political systems and weapons technology. Student and professional psychologists, political scientists, as well as the general reader concerned with the threat of nuclear war will find this book imperative reading.

The study begins by examining the psychologist's role of social responsibility in the nuclear dilemma. Why is psychology involved? How did it become involved? What is the nature of the involvement? Is it appropriate that psychology be involved? The book is directed toward these questions. Jacobs interviews prominent individuals in the peace movement, most notably, Herbert Kelman, Irving Janis, Ralph White, and Thomas Milburn. Other chapters explore the psychologist's role as scientist, government consultant, and social activist.

The year 2006 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. To commemorate this event, the Austrian government sponsored a number of academic and cultural events. Among these was a historic gathering of representatives of the four major United States psychoanalytic organizations: the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, the American Psychoanalytic Asociation, Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, and the American Association for Psychoanalysis on Clinical LSocial Work/NMCOP. The essays presented by speakers from these organizations at the Embassy of Austria in Washington, D.C., survey the tremendous and wide-ranging influence that Freud had on history, contemporary society, culture and the arts. The essays form the centerpiece of this book. Complementing these wide-ranging essays are literary works and remarkable photographs of Freud, his family, colleagues and patients which were also presented during the commemorative celebrations of Freud in the United States and Austria.