Ten books

Vaillant was recruited as a young researcher to oversee the interviews with over 500 men and women, who agreed to give repeated interviews over decades and answer questions about their mental and physical health, their relationships and work patterns, and their drinking habits. Unlike many other psychological theories, attachment theory is empirically based on descriptive animal studies that include neurobiological data; and in humans, longitudinal observational research that is able to analyse and parse out the contribution of attachment relationships to the risk of developing abnormal personality organisation and other psychiatric disorders, especially disorders of mood and arousal regulation. The Mask of Sanity by Hervey Cleckley Out of sheer altruism, the Cleckley family has put this book online in the public domain, so it is possible to download and read at leisure. 12 It is probably best known as the inspiration for Professor Robert Hare’s study of violent prisoners, which led to the development of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist 13 and the vast literature on psychopathy which keeps psychologists, psychiatrists, journalists and screen writers both informed and entertained. The Mask of Sanity is also worth reading for Cleckley’s writing style - he has a Maugham-like waspishness of his own, and his description of a psychopathic psychiatrist is a novella of viciousness.