The book is great, and a "must have" for those who seek a better understanding of personality and its disorders.
The authors not only provide the reader with the know-how, but also an enthralling overview of the history of each personality disorder. By going back to some of the old case studies, the authors did allow me to notice how personality disorders have evolved in the centuries. However, I have also learned that many of the signs of each cluster of PPDD were already described in ancient history.
Apart these cultural connotations, the book is a very helpful hint for those working with patients suffering from obstinate
and "hard-to-treat" personality disorders.
Great book, worth each penny paid.

. . . is another man's path to riches, professional prestige, and social control.

If you want to know about the latest fads and superstitions in America's favorite quackery, then this is a great source. You'll miss out on a few things, such as how psychiatrists had epileptics imprisoned in "colonies" just a few decades ago. Epilepsy was, we were informed by Harvard psychiatrists, proof of pathological criminality. You will also not read about how homosexuals, after long being persecuted by psychiatrists (electroconvulsive therapy, insulin schock, lobotomy, etc.) were suddenly declared well, and about how people who dislike homosexuals then were afflicted with a "mental illness" called "homophobia." You won't learn how it is that psychiatrists "knew" that people contracted peptic ulcers because they could't handle stress until the bacteria was isolated that actually causes such ulcers. You won't learn this because psychiatrists don't like to get hemmed in by history, or science, or ethical considerations. The authors discretely ignore the fact that no autopsy has ever revealed a person to have had "schizophrenia" or that any disease revealed to have a genuine organic cause is removed from psychiatry and given to physicians, such as neurologists, who deal with real illnesses.

But do not fret. This book is directly in the psychiatric mainstream. It presents all the categories, classifications, modalities, complexes, and "treatments" just as if they were the product of actual science. It's as complex and convincing as an elaboration on astrology or phrenology. Like any good pseudoscientific tract, it is so splendidly dense and pretentious that it will not lack for credulous readers.

Yesterday's forgotten "cause" and "treatment" for "schizophrenia" is replaced by the hottest new thing. Every coercive treatment applied to involuntary subjects who don't accept that they are in any way "sick" is deftly rationalized. A century from now this will stand as one of the most fascinating compendia of quackery American has produced.

There are few books in psychology that are as comprehensive in scope and detail as Dr. Millon's book. The book provides a solid, integrative theory of personality and personality disorders that can be used not only in research, but also clinical practice by psychologists from any theoretical orientation. Because it is so comprehensive, the book is especially useful for students. The first section of the book (approximately 200 pgs.) is dedicated to laying down a foundation for the study of personality disorders -- the issues that it entails and a concise (yet, detailed) review of various personality theories. Dr. Millon then presents a rational, integrated theory of personality that is the foundation of his integrated biopsychosocial approach to personality. The rest of the book is dedicated to a detailed examination of the DSM-IV personality disorders. This single book can serve as a primary text for any advanced course in personality. Whether one aggrees with Dr. Millon's theory (and few can disagree with it completely once they understand it's comprehensive and integrated nature), this book is one that anybody who deals with the personality disorders MUST have on their bookshelf.

It's a shame this book is a special order. Everyone I have shown the book to, has gone gah-gah (this is a word?) The scholastic and academic quality are consistent with the best of the Oxford Press. The clarity and parsimony of the explication is beautiful. The data are current and insightful. Anyone in clinical practice would benefit from this book. The diagnoses used are those from DSM-IV, but the insight into patient behavior may be timeless. Although as an edited book it is subject to inter-author variability, I found none; rather a consistent voice of compassion for patients, tempered by a scientific mind.

Finally a book that talks about treatment of the individual within the context of a diagnosis. This is a worthwhile book for both the seasoned clinician and the student craving more knowledge and understanding.

Utilizing this book in writing a paper for graduate school, I found it to be very helpful and thorough. The foremost experts in antisocial personality disorders and psychopathy have collaborated to comment on everything from history and etiology, to recent developments in comorbidity and treatment. A must have for anyone interested in the subject.

-Lee Cohen