Bowlby is a clear and cogent thinker who takes time to look at an important issue in tremendous detail. Taking into account much previous research and theorizing, he accepts and refutes a wide body of work in making his point. You may not agree with all of his conclusions (I may not agree with all of his conclusions), but this is not a book to be discounted lightly. Should be required reading for anyone interested in the fields of psychoanalysis and child development.

Eileen Berdon's review has been attached to so many bowlby volumes now, despite ostensibly referring to "volume 2" that it needs to be read with extreme caution.

Not all Bowlby's writing or books are equally lucid or useful. Pick your topic, check the detailed contents, try and read some excerpts, and form you own opinions. Buyers beware.

This book was first published in 1973, and the work of it was done mostly in the 1960's by Briton Dr. Bowlby. It's "Volume Two" of a trilogy, but does not have to read along with the companion volumes. Like his other two works on childhood, this interesting work, again, introduces his ideas and promotes a compassionate understanding of the lives of children.

Separation anxiety, anxious attachment, and other phenomena of attachment are well-known and accepted reactions now - we expect it from our pets as well as our babies - but at one time, were less well understood (and anticipated.) This work, lucidly and compassionately, lays it out for the reader. The book is divided into three sections, and in a well-organized and deeply accessible fashion, Bowlby proceeds. The Sections are "Security, Anxiety, and Distress," "An Ethological Approach to Human Fear," and finally, "Individual Differences in Susceptibility to Fear: Anxious Attachment".

Bowlby uses his own prior clinical work and that of others to support his assertions. The father's role, the role of anger and fear, and many other factors are discussed. This is a scholarly study, and has much to tell readers. It's thoroughly readable and interesting, not only for its subject but because Bowlby can tell a story and hold the reader's interest through-out. Not a "how-to" or a quick fix - rather, a deeply sensible and basic study. Highly recommended for parents, teachers, clinicians.