Daniel Pick is a British historian,

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

, university teacher, writer and occasional broadcaster. Between 2014 and 2021, he was the recipient of a senior Investigator grant from the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

and led a research group at Birkbeck exploring the history of the human sciences and 'psy' professions during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The project was entitled 'Hidden Persuaders': Brainwashing, Culture, Clinical Knowledge and the Cold War Human Sciences, c. 1950-1990'. He read English at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, before taking a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in History. He is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London, a fellow and training analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society and author of numerous articles and several books on modern cultural history, psychoanalysis, and the history of the human sciences. These include ''Faces of Degeneration'' (CUP, 1989), ''The Pursuit of the Nazi Mind'' (OUP, 2012). and ''Brainwashed: A New History of Thought Control'' (Profile/Wellcome Collection, 2022) He has written, and taught at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

for many years, on aspects of the history of

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

and

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, the relationship of Freudian thought to

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

evolutionary theory,

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

and social Darwinism, ideas of war and peace, fin-de-siècle literature, and the history of cultural attitudes to crime and madness. He is an associate editor of

History Workshop Journal The ''History Workshop Journal'' is a British academic history journal published by Oxford University Press. ''History Workshop'' was founded in 1976 by Raphael Samuel and others involved in the History Workshop movement. Originally sub-titled "A ...

. Pick has presented a number of radio programmes, for the BBC, including 'The Unconscious Life of Bombs’,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

(December 2017); ‘Dictators on the Couch’, BBC Radio 4 (June 2017); and ‘Freud for our Times’, BBC Radio 4 (December 2016).

Selected works

* Brainwashed: A New History of Thought Control (Profile/Wellcome Collection, 2022) * Co-editor (with Matt ffytche), ''Psychoanalysis in the Age of Totalitarianism'' (

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, 2016) * ''Psychoanalysis: A Very Short Introduction'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2015) * ''The Pursuit of the Nazi Mind: Hitler, Hess and the Analysts'' (Oxford University Press, 2012); paperback (2014) * ''Rome or Death: The Obsessions of General Garibaldi'' (

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

, 2005; Pimlico 2006) * Co-editor (with Lyndal Roper), ''Dreams and History: The Interpretation of Dreams from Ancient Greece to Modern Psychoanalysis'' (Routledge, 2004) * ''Svengali's Web: The Alien Enchanter in Modern Culture'',

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, 2000 * Edited and introduced George Du Maurier's novel ''Trilby'' ( Penguin Classics, 1994) * ''War Machine: The Rationalisation of Slaughter in the Modern Age'' (Yale University Press, 1993) * ''Faces of Degeneration: A European Disorder, c. 1848-c.1918'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1989

References

External links

‘The Psychiatrist and the Deputy Fuhrer’, BBC Radio 4

‘Nazism and Psychoanalysis in the 1940s and Beyond’, Freud Museum

‘On Psychoanalysis and Fascism’

'The Roots of Extremism’, BBC Radio 4 (March 2014)'

Hidden Persuaders project website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pick, Daniel Academics of Birkbeck, University of London British psychoanalysts