In this book Bychowski attempts to interpret the life and times of Julius Caesar, Oliver Cromwell, Robespierre, Hitler and Stalin according to what the author considers psychoanalytic "insight." The theme of the work is sounded almost immediately (p. 12) as follows:
"The course of Roman history can serve as a perfect illustration of Freud's theory expounded in Totem and Taboo, according to which the earliest form of society was marked by a struggle between the primal father of the horde and his sons who banded together in order to overthrow him and divide the females among themselves. Thus, about 1900 years before Freud pointed out this pattern, the Roman king was killed, the Republic was established and its path of development was apparently bound for democracy. However, the collective mind still cherished deep longing for the guiding and ruling parent. In a period of misery and social upheaval, the vortex