Nathaniel Branden was once a close disciple of Ayn Rand--although he was purged from the ranks of her inner circle. You can certainly see her influence in this book--it's very self centered--and I don't mean to denigrate it by calling that. It simply argues for the importance of self-esteem in a healthy psychology--and I'd agree with that--and this this book has some useful insights. How revolutionary it is I can't really judge. I do know that his theories fall into what's known as "cognitive psychology" which believes what ideas you hold are of crucial importance to the psyche. cognitive psychology. Aaron T. Beck is noted as the father of cognitive therapy in the Wiki--and his 1987 book, Cognitive Therapy of Depression, came out decades after Branden's, which was first published in 1969.
