Books by Robert Jay Lifton

A definitive account from a leading expert on the nature of cults and those who are susceptible.

Informed by Erik Erikson's concept of the formation of ego identity, this book, which first appreared in 1961, is an analysis of the experiences of fifteen Chinese citizens and twenty-five Westerners who underwent "brainwashing" by the Communist Chinese government. Robert Lifton constructs these case histories through personal interviews.

Revising the psychology of the self, this text draws a line between multiplicity and fragmentation. The message is that it is better to be fluid, resilient and on the move than to be firm, fixed, self-assured and settled.

"Proteanism"--or the protean self--describes a psychological phenomenon integral to our times. We live in a world marked by breathtaking historical change and instantaneous global communication. Our liv

This new edition of Revolutionary Immortality coincides with two interesting rediscoveries in American intellectual life-that of China and that of death. The book happens to be about both.