Freud feels intimidating. Pictures show the Austrian psychoanalyst with a stern imposing visage. The whole topic of psycho-analysis itself is dense, filled with insider terminology like id and superego that threaten to leave the armchair reader behind.

Fortunately, Freud himself excelled at writing popular-level works. This volume includes two works suitable to introduce anyone to the history of this field of study. Five Lectures on Psycho-analysis was first given while Freud was on a lecture tour of America in 1909. The Question of Lay Analysis was written in 1926. Each of these works were written with the general educated population in mind.

It is impossible to overstate Freud’s contribution to psychology. He developed a theory of the mind—the conscious and unconscious—that is still assumed today, although modified and nuanced in various directions. Two Short Accounts of Psycho-Analysis is an excellent introduction to the thought of the Austrian psychoanalyst.

Freud, Sigmund. Two Short Accounts of Psycho-Analysis: Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis and the Question of Lay-Analysis. Translated by James Strachey. Penguin, 1986.