The threshold that Melanie Klein found to exist between the paranoid-schizoid and the depressive positions is the site of a series of transformations - extremely inducing murder or suicide - in which habitual forms of discourse break down. W. R. Bion defined the series of transformations as a state of catastrophic change: it is comparable to the stage in rites of passage, as described by Arnold van Gennep, in which initiates undergo an experience of psychic eclipse.

With the wealth of clinical material, linking themes derived from psychotherapy, the arts, anthropology and philosophy, Psychotic Metaphysics proposes that this turbulence, which logically precedes embodiment, is the impetus for the unique quality of human achievement.

At the centre of turbulence, mind begins to realize that it has gained power by robbing its good objects. It enters into a necessarily metaphysical and depressive exploration of a psychotic iconography, in which an inadequate language of fetish and sign inhibits the emergemce of the symbols of love; and it discovers a geography of binary division, an underworld (as well as an overworld), to which it has banished its counterpart, a twin foetus and its mother, whom it must come to acknowledge as the rightful inheriters of life.

Every major discipline, including psychoanalysis, needs the stimulus of an excellent mind, standing away from the centre of professional gravity, commenting on that discipline. Eric Rhode's new book Psychotic Metaphysics makes such a contribution with the depth and scholarliness we now expect from him. Anton Obholzer, Psychoanalyst, Consultant Psychiatrist, Chairman Tavistock Clinic, 1985-1993, Chief Executive Tavistock and Portman Trust

This is the one that fans of Eric Klein have been waiting for! In the first part of the book, Eric speaks about the nature of the spiritual path and recounts his own process of spiritual unfoldment, a rare glimpse into the personal life of a very private and wonderful person. The second part of the book contains the "Ocean of Love" material from Eric's last series of public classes, and I must say that it is very helpful in understanding the challenges that those on a spiritual path are experiencing in these times of vastly accelerated change. Eric's characteristic gentle humor and purity come through particularly well in this book, and whether you are new to the idea of ascension or seeking to deepen your understanding of the spiritual path and its ultimate goals, this is the book for you!

Read before you visit the island . As you stroll the medieval walled city you will find yourself thinking of the last Europeans to defend Christendom this close to Asia. It was the Turk who came here in the two sieges described. The Knights of St. John were deposed during the second siege and were allowed to leave, eventually reestablishing the Hospitallers in Malta. Look for evidence of the blood and carnage of the sieges as you walk this stop on the summer cruise route. Hangings, beheadings, Knights of Christ and Ottoman Turks alike displaying the heads of their enemies on dripping pikes; Could all this have really happened here in this jewel in the blue Aegean? Yes it did and the story of it is written for the history buff and traveler alike in this short entertaining book

The Knights of St. John of the Hospital were a crusading order who are mentioned in the background of "The Maltese Falcon." But they served as much more than the set up for a Dashiel Hammett mystery. Many historians consider the Knights to be the first practitioners of nursing. They could crack their enemies' skulls and then expertly apply the bandages. Nursing, however, was not their greatest contribution. After the collapse of the Crusading movement, they became Europe's Mediterranean bulwark against Turkish expansion.

When they were expelled from the Holy Land, they set up on the island of Rhodes, and weathered two concerted efforts by the Turks to dislodge them from the island.This, then is the story of those two campaigns, and it describes them in all their gallantry and savagery.

They finally succumbed to the might of the Turkish Empire, but were able to retire from Rhodes in good order. After being dislodged from Rhodes, the Knights moved to Malta, and there withstood another epic seige which served as the prelude to the decisive Battle of Lepanto. Their efforts truly helped to save Europe from Turkish domination. All in all, this is an entertaining and informative history of a pivotal period in European history.