R.D. Laing (1927–1989) was one of the best-known and most controversial psychiatrists of the post-war period. After a short period as a psychiatrist in the British Army he moved to the Tavistock Institute in London in 1956, where he worked alongside leading psychotherapists such as John Bowlby and D.W. Winnicott. In 1965 he co-founded the Philadelphia Practice in London, where patients, doctors and staff mixed freely without hierarchy. His many books include The Divided Self, Self and Others and Knots. Aaron Esterson (1923–1999) was an existential psychoanalyst and family therapist, and with R.D. Laing helped found the Philadelphia Practice.

• Preface Preface to the Second Edition Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition, by Hilary Mantel Introduction The Abbotts The Blairs The Churches The Danzigs The Edens The Fields The Golds The Heads The Irwins The Kings The Lawsons Appendix Index

R.D. Laing (1927–1989) was one of the best-known and most controversial psychiatrists of the post-war period. After a short period as a psychiatrist in the British Army he moved to the Tavistock Institute in London in 1956, where he worked alongside leading psychotherapists such as John Bowlby and D.W. Winnicott. In 1965 he co-founded the Philadelphia Practice in London, where patients, doctors and staff mixed freely without hierarchy. His many books include The Divided Self, Self and Others and Knots. Aaron Esterson (1923–1999) was an existential psychoanalyst and family therapist, and with R.D. Laing helped found the Philadelphia Practice.

• Preface Preface to the Second Edition Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition, by Hilary Mantel Introduction The Abbotts The Blairs The Churches The Danzigs The Edens The Fields The Golds The Heads The Irwins The Kings The Lawsons Appendix Index

R.D. Laing (1927–1989) was one of the best-known and most controversial psychiatrists of the post-war period. After a short period as a psychiatrist in the British Army he moved to the Tavistock Institute in London in 1956, where he worked alongside leading psychotherapists such as John Bowlby and D.W. Winnicott. In 1965 he co-founded the Philadelphia Practice in London, where patients, doctors and staff mixed freely without hierarchy. His many books include The Divided Self, Self and Others and Knots. Aaron Esterson (1923–1999) was an existential psychoanalyst and family therapist, and with R.D. Laing helped found the Philadelphia Practice.

• Preface Preface to the Second Edition Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition, by Hilary Mantel Introduction The Abbotts The Blairs The Churches The Danzigs The Edens The Fields The Golds The Heads The Irwins The Kings The Lawsons Appendix Index