As Freud's writings are read less and less and have even sometimes come under attack, how are we to understand the contributions of his work? Ilse Grubrich-Simitis, well-known as an editor of Freud's manuscripts, advocates here a new reading of Freud's texts, so that their exact detail and innovative power be fully realized.

The essays, originally published in German, explore the development of Freud's concept of trauma from his first book to his last one. Through the study of Moses, and the application of psychoanalytic method, Early Freud and Late Freud shows how the contemporary traumatic events in Nazi Germany may have influenced Freud's return to the beginning of his studies, a development which continues to have profound influence on modern psychoanalysis today.