Sadism and Masochism - The Psychology of Hatred and Cruelty -

Book excerpt: This rare text contains a ground-breaking treatise on two extremes of the human condition: sadism and masochism. Including societal examples of his time interwoven with historic sample incidents representative of the afflictions, this fascinating text is a clear and concise exploration of the subject that will appeal to both students of the subject and collectors of Stekel s influential work. Within this work Stekel also makes frequent reference to the work of his contemporaries, such as Jung and Freud, in an attempt to enlighten the reader to the fundamentals of the conditions dealt with in this detailed portrayal of human behaviour. Wilhelm Stekel was an Austrian physician and psychologist, once described as "Freud's most distinguished pupil." This scarce book was originally published in 1929 and is proudly republished here with an new prefatory biography of the author.