Here is a list of the best Freud books, some I have read myself, some that I did research on, and all have great reviews!
1. Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought (2016)
Sigmund Freud’s concepts have become a part of our psychological vocabulary: unconscious thoughts and feelings, conflict, the meaning of dreams, the sensuality of childhood. But psychoanalytic thinking has undergone an enormous expansion and transformation since Freud’s death in 1939. With Freud and Beyond, Stephen A. Mitchell and Margaret J. Black make the full scope of twentieth century psychoanalytic thinking-from Harry Stack Sullivan to Jacques Lacan; D.W. Winnicott to Melanie Klein-available for the first time. Richly illustrated with case examples, this lively,…
2. The Interpretation of Dreams: The Complete and Definitive Text (2010)
What are the most common dreams and why do we have them? What does a dream about death mean? What do dreams of swimming, failing, or flying symbolize? First published in 1899, Sigmund Freud’s groundbreaking book, The Interpretation of Dreams, explores why we dream and why dreams matter in our psychological lives. Delving into theories of manifest and latent dream content, the special language of dreams, dreams as wish fulfillments, the significance of childhood experiences, and much more, Freud offers an incisive and enduringly relevant examination of dream psychology. Encompassing…
3. The Freud Reader (1995)
The first single-volume work to capture Freud’s ideas as scientist, humanist, physician, and philosopher. What to read from the vast output of Sigmund Freud has long been a puzzle. Freudian thought permeates virtually every aspect of twentieth-century life; to understand Freud is to explore not only his scientific papers―on the psycho-sexual theory of human development, his theory of the mind, and the basic techniques of psychoanalysis―but also his vivid writings on art, literature, religion, politics, and culture. The fifty-one texts in this volume…
4. The Ego and the Id (The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud) (1990)
In 1923, in this volume, Freud worked out important implications of the structural theory of mind that he had first set forth three years earlier in Beyond the Pleasure Principle.The Ego and the Id ranks high among the works of Freud’s later years. The heart of his concern is the ego, which he sees battling with three forces: the id, the super-ego, and the outside world. Of the various English translations of Freud’s major works to appear in his lifetime, only one was authorized by Freud himself: The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud under…
5. Civilization and Its Discontents (2010)
Freud’s seminal volume of twentieth-century cultural thought grounded in psychoanalytic theory, now with a new introduction by Christopher Hitchens. Written in the decade before Freud’s death, Civilization and Its Discontents may be his most famous and most brilliant work. It has been praised, dissected, lambasted, interpreted, and reinterpreted. Originally published in 1930, it seeks to answer several questions fundamental to human society and its organization: What influences led to the creation of civilization? Why and how did it come to be? What determines civilization’s trajectory? Freud’s theories on the effect…
6. A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis (2019)
Though it has now fallen out of favor among many practitioners and scholars, Freud’s concept of psychoanalysis—an approach that focuses primarily on adverse events in early childhood and irrational drives that are overcome via extended talk therapy—was and continues to be enormously influential, not only in the realm of psychology, but also in the larger culture. This volume offers a comprehensive overview of psychoanalysis from the point of view of the field’s creator….
7. Freud: A Life for Our Time (2006)
A national bestseller”A magisterial contribution to the history of ideas. A fresh, illuminating perspective on one of the pivotal figures of our time.” ―J. Anthony Lukas “[This] remarkable biography… briskly traces the story of Freud’s life and education, deftly weaving the familiar narrative with a style that makes it seem fresh and lively.” ―Chicago Tribune…
8. Freud: A Very Short Introduction (2001)
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, developed a totally new way of looking at human nature. Only now, with the hindsight of the half-century since his death, can we assess his true legacy to current thought. As an experienced psychiatrist himself, Anthony Storr offers a lucid and objective look at Freud’s major theories, evaluating whether they have stood the test of time, and in the process examines Freud himself in light of his own ideas. An excellent introduction to Freud’s work, this book will appeal to all those broadly curious about psychoanalysis, psychology, and sociology.About…
9. Freud and Man’s Soul: An Important Re-Interpretation of Freudian Theory (1983)
Has Sigmund Freud been seriously misunderstood? The author of The Uses of Enchantment argues that mistranslation has distorted Freud’s work in English and led students to see a system intended to cooperate flexibly with individual needs as a set of rigid rules to be applied by external authority. This provocative argument cuts through the myths to reveal a greater, more compassoinate and also far more disturbing figure.”VITAL…an eloquent attempt to reclaim Freud’s reputation in America.” —THE NEW YORK TIMES ”Lucid and…
10. The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life (2003)
Throughout the ages, many of the world’s greatest thinkers have wrestled with the concept of — and belief in — God. It may seem unlikely that any new arguments or insights could be raised, but the twentieth century managed to produce two brilliant men with two diametrically opposed views about the question of God: Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis. They never had an actual meeting, but in The Question of God, their arguments are placed side by side for the very first time. For more than twenty-five years, Armand Nicholi has taught a course at Harvard that compares the philosophical arguments…
11. The Uncanny (Penguin Classics) (2003)
Freud was fascinated by the mysteries of creativity and the imagination. The groundbreaking works that comprise The Uncanny present some of his most influential explorations of the mind. In these pieces Freud investigates the vivid but seemingly trivial childhood memories that often “screen” deeply uncomfortable desires; the links between literature and daydreaming; and our intensely mixed feelings about things we experience as “uncanny.” Also included is Freud’s celebrated study of Leonardo Da Vinci-his first exercise in psychobiography.For…
12. Freud: The Making of an Illusion (2018)
Since the 1970s, Sigmund Freud’s scientific reputation has been in an accelerating tailspin―but nonetheless the idea persists that some of his contributions were visionary discoveries of lasting value. Now, drawing on rarely consulted archives, Frederick Crews has assembled a great volume of evidence that reveals a surprising new Freud: a man who blundered tragicomically in his dealings with patients, who in fact never cured anyone, who promoted cocaine as a miracle drug capable of curing a wide range of diseases, and who advanced his career through falsifying case…
13. Freud (The Routledge Philosophers) (2015)
In this fully updated second edition, the author clearly introduces and assesses all of Freud’s thought, focusing on those areas of philosophy on which Freud is acknowledged to have had a lasting impact. These include the philosophy of mind, free will and determinism, rationality, the nature of the self and subjectivity, and ethics and religion. He also considers some of the deeper issues and problems Freud engaged with, brilliantly illustrating their philosophical significance: human sexuality, the unconscious, dreams, and the theory of transference. The…
14. Totem and Taboo (Dover Thrift Editions) (2018)
Originally published in 1918, this landmark collection of essays by the father of psychoanalysis represents one of Freud's most penetrating attempts to decipher the mysteries of human behavior. Its focus is the conflict between primitive feelings and the demands of civilization, i.e., the struggle to reconcile unconscious desires with socially acceptable behavior. Totemism involves the belief in a sacred relationship between an object (totem) and a human kinship group. Men and women bearing the same totem are prohibited from marrying each other, this being a form of incest taboo. Freud identifies a strong…
15. Psychopathology Of Everyday Life (2017)
Professor Freud developed his system of psychoanalysis while studying the so-called borderline cases of mental diseases, such as hysteria and compulsion neurosis. By discarding the old methods of treatment and strictly applying himself to a study of the patient’s life he discovered that the hitherto puzzling symptoms had a definite meaning, and that there was nothing arbitrary in any morbid manifestation. Psychoanalysis always showed that they referred to some definite problem or conflict of the person concerned. It was while tracing back the abnormal to the normal state that Professor Freud found how faint the line of demarcation was…
Best Freud Books: The Ultimate List
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some freud books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
A Moment of Transition. Two Neuroscientific Articles by Sigmund Freud
Author(s): Mark Solms; Michael Saling
Publisher: Karnac Books, Year: London, Size: 13 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2289317
Psychotic Disorders: A Practical Guide
Author(s): Oliver Freudenreich
Publisher: Springer International Publishing;Humana, Year: 2020, Size: 6 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2469395
Contemporary Perspectives on the Freudian Death Drive: In Theory, Clinical Practice and Culture
Author(s): Victor Bluml; Liana Giorgi; Daru Huppert
Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2019, Size: 1 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2373144
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are truly chart-busters according to USA Today, others are composed by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant links you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.