BLOOMSBURY BOOK OF THE MIND, THE

This is an impressive collection of writings on the mind, from the earliest accounts to the most cutting edge research. These include fiction, letters, case notes and formal writings.

The editor illuminates the contributions through introductions to each of the six sections, i.e. Perception, Memory, Emotion, Thought, Consciousness and Self, plus commentaries that contextualise each individual piece.

The list of contributors include Alfred Adler, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Francis Bacon, William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sigmund Freud, Gautama Buddha, Daniel Goleman, Aldous Huxley, William James, Carl Jung, Oscar Wilde and Virginia Woolf.

The book is edifying to say the least, as it encompasses some of humanity's most significant attempts to understand the mind and how it works. Some passages are also very inspiring and the editor has done a splendid job of tying these writings together over space and time.