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Dr. Berne's new book is primarily designed to be a sequel to his 1961 book, Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy, but it has been planned so it can be read and understood separately. It is a welcome addition to such books as Potter's Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship and Jay Haley's Strategies of Psychotherapy. These volumes, all well written, entertaining, erudite, and for intelligent readers of many fields, form an interesting introduction to the concepts of social psychiatry. For those not conversant with the field, this book is a painless introduction to transactional theory, the theory of games, and to many harmful and harmless games that we engage in both socially, professionally, and that we are invited to play with our patients.
Part I is an analysis of games in general, introducing us to new use of such terms as "stroke," "transaction," "pastime," and "games." We learn