Book excerpt: This book includes material from Michael Eigen’s celebrated and long-running seminar series, to explore some of the classic and contemporary key concepts in psychoanalytic theory and practice. Drawing on the work of Winnicott, Bion and Lacan, Eigen explores key psychoanalytic themes which have risen to prominence over the last decade such as the place of politics in psychoanalysis, life, death and psychic deadness, and the role of lies and deception in the consulting room and our world. With over 50 years of experience in leading seminars and working psychoanalytically, Eigen's work is essential reading for all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.