Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11992 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

A rich synthesis of passion and professional committment
A bold yet delicate approach. I very much appreciated the second chapter in helping me understand the basic structure of the brain.

I believe this book to be a challenge to complacency that may exist among people working in the mental health field. It questions some assumptions that all troubles may be treated by a cognitive or behavioural approach and that the 'talking cure' may be enough.

I was delighted to read that "A capable therapist shares much with a good reader - he must willingly suspend his belief in the rules he know and approach a personal universe whose workings should be unimaginable to the uninitated".

I loved the encouragement to suspend knowing and maintain "a childlike capacity for wonder". I was both inspired and relieved to read these authors.

Love and Security
I came to "A General Theory of Love" through a recommendation by a leading personal coach and emotional intelligence expert. Having read it, I understand why he thought so highly of this book.

The title sounds almost contradictory, yet the authors really do elucidate the nature of love, how it is enabled and how it is suppressed. They eloquently explain how humans are essentially emotional animals, no matter how evolved our logical brains have become. They describe how this has enormous impact on how we make choices in our lives about all manner of things, in our almost blind pursuit of happiness.

This book should be high on the reading list of anyone who wants to better understand the nature of human relationships of any kind. It offers insight into the reasons for feelings and behaviours of individuals, whether in partner relationships, friendships or the workplace. Perhaps more valuably, it explains the impact of parents, partners and society on the development of a person's ability to form loving relationships and to have emotional stability, more generally.

The authors make their points eloquently throughout the book, citing plenty of academic research to validate their arguments. For those inclined to further research any aspects, there are references aplenty.


"A General Theory of Love" is beautifully written. I would recommend this book to existing or budding parents, actual or potential lovers and indeed, human beings in any culture or society.

It rings 100% true
This is such a rich book, it rewards multiple re-readings. To understand love from the perspective of science, one has to understand how the brain works, and the authors do an outstanding job of covering vast amounts of ground to enable this. It's easy to lose count of the sheer number of new insights including areas such as evolution, memory and visual perception as well as romantic and (especially) parental love.

But this is no soulless text book. Indeed, it has been criticised for being a bit flowery, and in places it is. The authors' contention is that this is a subject only art and literature have previously handled, and perhaps this is their way of paying respect to the massive insights gained over the millenia. For me, it works. It is not a typical science book by any means, and this will suit some perfectly and others not at all.

It is a shame that this is a barrier for some people. It is hard to believe that the whole world wouldn't gain from absorbing a little of the book's contents. Very readable, it rings 100% true.