Stephen Frosh is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. He is one of the founders of Psychosocial Studies in the UK, bringing together sociological and psychological (especially psychoanalytic) perspectives. He has published over twenty books as well as over 150 academic articles. He is co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies (2024) and the Routledge International Handbook of Psychoanalysis and Jewish Studies (2025).

• Preface1. Being Real2. Recovering Childhood3. Hate4. Defending Ourselves against Reality5. Ghosts and Ancestors6. Psychopolitical Reality7. Endurance8. The Sense of EndingNotes

With far-reaching expertise and crystal clarity, Stephen Frosh tackles what we all want to grasp, "how to be real", knowing that the messiness of life means we can never be fully sure of our own sense of authenticity. In these pages, Frosh addresses the necessary illusions that daily sustain us as we try to confront, or more often work to camouflage, our inevitably dependent, insecure and vulnerable lives. A crucial text for all of us.