A quality collection of information and an easy read for such a tough subject.

Author is Keen to point out that it is "a" history of the unconscious. When he begins by stating that "perhaps the first individual to acknowledge that some parts of the mind are necessarily unavailable for introspection was St Augustine" ... I almost put down the book. Other individuals and other cultures have thoroughly pondered the unconscious so I felt this was a poor choice for opening statement and a preference for Western thought only. And it is an account of Western thinking on the unconscious, from St. Augustine up to a handful of neuroscientists.

Short and to the point, never going too deep into any direction. This style worked for this book. The closing chapter does acknowledge that neuroscience and Buddhism are providing a framework for reshaping our models of mind and, when we accept Freud's "third blow" that we are dictated by our unconscious which recognizes that we have limited free will, so too will our moral and other social frameworks be reshaped. ( )