Coming none too soon in a time which seems bereft of love of any kind, Fromm"s classic originally published by Harper in 1956 is quietly optimistic, asserting that the only love that really matters is compounded of maturity, self-knowledge and courage. With a new introduction by Peter D. Kramer, this edition includes the full text describing love as an art, the theory of love in its many forms, including brotherly love, motherly love, exotic love, self-love and love of God, love and its disintegration in contemporary western society, and the practice of love. In an illustrated biographical afterword by Rainer Funk we find many of the sources for Fromm"s thoughts on love, including his upbringing as an only child, his failed early marriages and his eventual success, and his perceptions of Freud, Marx, Weber and other great minds. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)