War Memoirs 1917 - 1919

Bion's War Memoirs is perhaps the most exceptional piece of autobiography yet written by a psychoanalyst. The first section of the book is documentary, consisting of the entire text of the diaries which Bion wrote as a young man to record his experiences on the Western Front in 1917-1919. The photographs and diagrams with which he illustrated his recollections are also reproduced here. The diaries are followed by two later essays in the second part in which he reflects upon his wartime experiences. These meditations are influenced by his psychoanalytic training, and perhaps also suggest how his approach to psychoanalysis was influenced by his war-time experiences. Together, these diaries and essays provide a most moving picture of war and its effects.