Bøger i Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud serien

Adducing evidence from "primitive" tribes, neurotic women, child patients traversing the oedipal phase, and speculations by Charles Darwin, James G. Frazer, and other modern scholars, Freud attempts to trap the moment that civilized life began. It stands as his most imaginative venture into the psychoanalysis of culture.

While in this book Freud tells some good stories with his customary verve and economy, its point is wholly serious.