Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships by Eric Berne

Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships by Eric Berne lands on the shelves of my shop.

The Quality Book Club, 1967, Hardback in dust wrapper.

From the cover: People tend to live their lives by consistently playing out certain games in their interpersonal relationships. They play these games for a variety of reasons: to avoid confronting reality, to conceal ulterior motives, to rationalize their activities, or to avoid actual participation. These games except when they are destructive are both desirable and necessary.

Dr Berne offers a thorough and fascinating analysis of thirty-six games, which he categorizes under seven headings: life games, which transcend a specific mode of response in a given situation and pervade the players every action; marital games, which two people may use in order to sustain a frustrating or unrewarding life (a favourite marital game is Frigid Woman, in which one of the two players provokes an argument, leading to anger and alienation of feelings, in order to avoid sex); sexual games, in which someone provokes sexual reactions in another person and then, as in the game called Rapo, acts as though he or she were the innocent victim (exhibitionism The Stocking Game is another common sexual game); party games, which by definition are social and move from the perpetual gossip to the chronic com-plainer; underworld games, such as Cops and Robbers, which are most often played for material gains but can also aim at psychological advantages; consulting room games, which can be played by a patient with a doctor in order to avoid getting cured.

In this book Dr Berne is developing and elaborating on a concept which he has already described for the specialist and which he employs in his new, unified system of individual and social psychiatry, in which group therapy is used as the basic method and the analysis of games is a major element in the treatment. He shows how the concept can help people achieve a new self-awareness and put them on the way to leading more constructive lives.

Addressed to the intelligent layman as well as to the practising professional, Games People Play is written in clear, simple, witty language.

Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Edges of the text block lightly tanned. Text complete, clean and tight but a little age-tanned.

Black boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 192 pages. Index. 8¾” x 5¾”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

Butterfly Watching by Paul Whalley

Butterfly Watching by Paul Whalley lands on the shelves of my shop.

Severn House, 1980, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Facsimiles; Colour Photographs; Black & White Drawings; Colour Drawings;

From the cover: Here is a book for people who enjoy sitting and watching butterflies go about their daily lives, rather than trying to catch them for collections. Collections play an important role in the scientific study of butterflies, but today there is also a need for more observations on butterfly behaviour.

In this book Paul Whalley shows how easy it is to derive pleasure from butterfly watching once you know where to look and what to watch for. He takes us into the field and explains how important it is to record our observations and how this should be done. He suggests many lines of enquiry for the butterfly watcher, and emphasizes the value of amateur observations in filling the gaps in our knowledge of butterfly behaviour. He covers rearing butterflies at home, attracting butterflies to the garden and butterfly conservation. Heather Angel, the well-known natural history photographer, has contributed a section on photographing butterflies, and there are appendices on places to visit, useful addresses and detailed butterfly life-histories. Specially commissioned drawings and over 60 photographs, 25 in colour, illustrate the text.

If you enjoy seeing butterflies alive and free, and you are interested in butterfly natural history and behaviour, this book will give you hours of pleasure and add a new dimension to your butterfly watching.

In the Severn House Naturalist’s Library series.

Very Good in Good Dust Wrapper. Heavily faded at the spine of the dust wrapper. Edges of the text block lightly tanned.

Blue boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 160 pages. Index. Bibliography. 8½” x 5¾”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

Running with the Fox by David Macdonald

Running with the Fox by David Macdonald lands on the shelves of my shop.

Unwin Hyman, 1987, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Colour Photographs; Black & White Drawings; Diagrams;

From the cover: From an early age, David Macdonald fell under the spell of foxes. He tried to observe them from a crudely-constructed hide and when this failed, he made plaster-casts of fox paw prints. The secretive life-style of the animal intrigued him. Yet its reputation was inconsistent: was it the epitome of cunning, the villain of childhood fables, the scourge of the hen run, or a noble quarry? What was behind the myth behind the fox?

On reaching Oxford University, Macdonald decided to devote his time to the study of foxes. His research was unusual: he did not restrict himself to books, but instead resolved to gain first-hand experience by watching this animal. He learnt the technique of following foxes through the night, recording every aspect of their behaviour and discovering facts that other naturalists had failed to notice.

He relied on the latest technology of radio-tagging, night-vision binoculars and often simply on his own extraordinarily tough attitude towards physical discomfort. During his 15-year study in farmland, mountainside and suburban sprawl, the author came to employ many of the same skills as the red fox. He learnt to lie motionless for hours in freezing conditions, he tracked and stalked from dusk till dawn and, keeping always in the cover of the woodlands edge, he learnt the art of running with the fox.

At times, he was able to observe his wild subjects at excitingly close quarters by means of a succession of hand-reared cubs (which acted as spies in the world of wild foxes). One of these, his vixen Niff, was the subject of the acclaimed BBC film The Night of the Fox.

Now, as an Oxford research fellow and the worlds leading authority on the red fox, David Macdonald has written the story of his lifes work. So vividly does he transport us into the world of the fox that you can hear the eerie screams of courting vixens, smell the pungent scent which hangs in the damp morning air and share his elation at seeing cubs gambolling in the long grass.

His painstaking observation reveals the true nature of the beast quite different to its folkloric image. Running with the Fox is a stunningly original insight into one of our most adaptable and beautiful animals.

Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Small damp stain to the upper board matched on the reverse of the upper panel. Text complete, clean and tight.

Green boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 224 pages. Index. 10″ x 7¾”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!