Books by Daniel Burston

Critical theory draws on Marxism, psychoanalysis, postmodern and poststructuralist theorists. Marxism and psychoanalysis are rooted in the Enlightenment project, while postmodernism and poststructuralism are more indebted to Nietzsche, whose philosophy is rooted in anti-Enlightenment ideas and ideals.

One of the great rebels of psychiatry, R. D. Laing challenged prevailing models of madness and the nature and limits of psychiatric authority. Here, Laing's widely praised biographer distills the essence of Laing's vision, which was religious and philosophical as well as psychological.

Erik Erikson and the American Psyche is an intellectual biography which explores Erikson's contributions to the study of infancy, childhood and ethical development in light of ego psychology, object-relations theory, Lacanian theory and other major trends in psychoanalysis.

In his final years, R. D. Laing (1927-1989) was arriving at lectures addled with hashish and brandy, yet he was one of the most influential and controversial psychiatrists of the 20th century, whose books sold millions of copies in more than 20 languages. Burston explores this man of many contradictions.