There are many footnotes to Freud, but Freud himself is never a mere footnote. What makes him so special? Each of Freud's works should make us ask the question, why did he write this? What footnotes do we need to put Freud in perspective, and to revive the neglected problems of psychoanalytic theory?

In Freud's Footnotes, Darian Leader brings to life debates in the history and theory of psychoanalysis, opening up new perspectives on areas that are all too often taken for granted. Leader explores the questions that preoccupied Freud and his followers. He shows how their theories were formed and modified, and situates their contributions in the history of ideas. Contexts and influences, revisions and apparently insignificant details are brought to the foreground in an important study which is characteristically profound, witty and persuasive.