One of our most admired and loved psychologists turns her attention to the essence of the good relationship, and why we need enemies as well as friends.

At the end of each of her books Dorothy Rowe describes how happiness and satisfaction come not just from achievements but from enjoying good relationships with other people. To date, however, she has not explored what constitutes a rewarding friendship, and in Friends and Enemies she sets out to do just that.

But if human beings crave good relationships, they also need bad ones. In imagining we have enemies we at least have the comfort of knowing that someone, somewhere, is thinking of us. At every level both people and nations seek out hate-figures, whether they are children at school or the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.

By delving into what it is that makes us hate as well as what makes us love and need each other, Dorothy Rowe addresses fundamental issues of human behaviour, drawing upon her own prodigious wisdom and the work of neuroscientists and intelligence specialists to show not only what friendship is but how it may be learned as a skill.

Reviews

‘There is a wealth of thought provoking material in this book… every page triggered for me flashes of recognition’

Val Hennessy, Daily Mail

Praise for Dorothy Rowe’s books:

‘Dorothy Rowe stands out amongst psychologists for her clear insight into human experience’

Independent

‘Dorothy Rowe is full of robust good sense, rare intuitive wisdom and unhurried sensitivity’

Nigella Lawson, The Times

‘Wise and witty, factual and poetic, and a luminous path to self-understanding for all of us’

Jill Tweedie

About the author

Dorothy Rowe was born in Australia in 1930, and worked as a teacher and child psychologist before coming to England, where she obtained her PhD at Sheffield University. From 1972 until 1986 she was head of Clinical Psychology. She is now engaged in writing, lecturing and research, and is world-renowned for her work on how we communicate and why we suffer. Her books include ‘‘Wanting Everything’, ‘‘Beyond Fear’ and ‘‘Time On Our Side’.