"Estelle Roith has written an intelligent, readable, well-researched book on Freud's life and work, examining the Jewish cultural background and family influences which dominated and inevitably contributed to his view of the world, which found expression in his psychoanalytical theories. - Group Analysis
"The first study I know of which brings together the Jewish Freud with the theorist of femininity, and which most persuasively argues an essential link between the two." - Naomi Segal, Journal of Jewish Studies, 1987
"This is a deeply researched, deeply felt account of how Freud, and other psychoanalysts such as Karl Abraham, could reach such appalling positions on the nature of women's sexuality. In brief, by locating Freud's thinking in its Judaic context, Roith is able to demonstrate how he could be simultaneously conservative in his views on women and break so much new ground in other areas." - John Pierson, Community Care, February 1988
"There is so much interesting material succinctly written in this book and with a great deal of reference to a wide range of sources, that it is hard to select from it. I recommend it to anyone interested in the derivations of analytic theories about women’s psychology. The author traces a path through the vicissitudes of late nineteenth and twentieth century conflict and Jewish migration, through differences within Judaic culture, through the writings of several authors on Freudian psychoanalytic developments, through Freud’s personal experience and through his family’s relationships, affected as they were by their position as first generation immigrants in Vienna." - Jean Thomson, The Journal of Analytical Psychology
