One of America's preeminent psychiatrists draws on his famous Study of Adult Development to give us an exhilarating look at how the mind's defenses work. What we see as the mind's trickery, George Vaillant tells us, is actually healthy. What's more, it can reveal the mind at its most creative and mature, soothing and protecting us in the face of unbearable reality, managing the unmanageable, ordering disorder. And because creativity is so intrinsic to this alchemy of the ego, Vaillant mingles his studies of obscure lives with psychobiographies of famous artists and others--including Florence Nightingale, Sylvia Plath, Anna Freud, and Eugene O'Neill.

George E. Vaillant is Professor of Psychiatry, ; Director of the Study of Adult Development, Harvard University Health Services; and Director of Research in the Division of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Read More by George E. Vaillant:

• Adaptation to Life
• The Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited
• How Fathers Care for The Next Generation: A Four-Decade Study
• Drug Addiction and Drug Policy: The Struggle to Control Dependence