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Mortal Secrets: Freud, Vienna and the Discovery of the Modern Mind

Frank Tallis

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A lively and accessible portrait of a major figure - Sigmund Freud - and the unprecedented era of creativity that shaped his ideas

Some cities are like stars. When the conditions are right, they ignite, and they burn with such fierce intensity that they outshine all their rivals. From 1890 and through the early years of the 20th century, Vienna became a dazzling beacon. The city was powered by an unprecedented number of extraordinary people - artists Klimt and Schiele, thinkers such as Theodor Herzl, and fashion icons like the glamorous Empress Sisi. Conversations in coffee houses and salons spurred advances in almost every area of human endeavour: science, politics, philosophy, and the arts. The influence of early 20th century Vienna is still detectable all around us - but the place where it is at its strongest is in our heads. The way we think about ourselves has been largely determined by Vienna's most celebrated resident: Sigmund Freud. Mortal Secrets is the story of Freud's life, Vienna's golden age, and an essential reappraisal of Freud's legacy.

'Tallis' clear-eyed judicious analysis is the best I've read - about the city and the man' William Boyd

'Brilliantly rich and vivid' The Times, Books of the Year

'Fascinating... the best book I have read on Freud and Vienne' TLS, Books of the Year

'Excellent and entertaining' Amanda Craig

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Praise for Mortal Secrets: Freud, Vienna and the Discovery of the Modern Mind

  • Frank Tallis's lucid storytelling makes him an ideal guide in this dangerous but perennially exciting terrain - Sebastian FaulksTallis makes Freud's life and the lost world of Viennese society vividly comprehensible. Excellent and entertaining - Amanda CraigAn unusually well-balanced and remarkably fresh account of Freud's life and work - in historical and cultural context - viewed from the perspective of our own troubled times, and with contemporary scientific hindsight - Mark Solms, author of The Brain and the Inner World

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Frank Tallis

Frank Tallis

Dr Frank Tallis is a writer and clinical psychologist. His non-fiction books include The Incurable Romantic, The Act of Living and Mortal Secrets: Freud, Vienna and The Discovery of the Modern Mind, which was a book of the year in The Times. In the TLS William Boyd said 'Tallis' clear-eyed judicious analysis is the best I've read'. Tallis is also the author of the Liebermann Papers, a psychoanalytic detective series set in Freud's Vienna and adapted for television as the BBC drama Vienna Blood. He lives in London.

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