"Beyond the Pleasure Principle" marks a major turning point in the evolution of Sigmund Freuds psychoanalytic thought. It is at once richly complex, daringly conceptual, and highly controversial. It leads Freud to a restatement of his theory of consciousness and of the "topography" of the human mind. At the same time, it provides a charming glimpse of an intimate family experience with his grandson, supporting the formulation of his new concept of the "compulsion to repeat" which became the basis for his radical revision of what he termed his "metapsychology"-the "scientific" foundation for his clinical theory.