This book attempts to externalize, in everyday and understandable language, some of the unconscious mental processes that underlie the emotions and actions of people.

The defining feature of psychology is the intense and continuous interaction of the impulses of love on one side and hatred and aggression on the other. Joan Riviere begins this collective inquiry with the analysis of hatred, greed, and aggression.

In the second section, Melanie Klein examines the power of love, guilt, and atonement. By tracing the causes of these impulses back to infancy, the authors highlight many characteristics of adult mental life that testify to the persistence of older thought models.

They then explore some of the "infinitely varied, subtle, and complex adaptations," on which the individual seeks throughout life to maintain a balance between the life-giving and negative aspects of their nature, in order to achieve maximum security and satisfaction.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]