Beginning with their first meeting in 1956 and ending with Maxwell Jones' death in 1990, A Life Well Lived follows the growth of a friendship between two key figures in social psychiatry and tracks the evolution of therapeutic communities from their experimental beginnings to the established practices that exist today. As a close friend and frequent collaborator, Briggs is able to recount in detail Jones' revolutionary work in mental hospitals, prisons, communities and schools, and offers a rare and engaging insight into the mind of one of the most important pioneers in the therapeutic community field.

Dennie Briggs trained as a clinical psychologist and sociologist and has conduced a number of transitional therapeutic communities in the US Navy, the California prison system, schools and universities. He resided in the UK for six years, working at Dingleton and Henderson Hospitals, consulting for NACRO and teaching at the North London Polytechnic.

Introduction. 1. Max and his gangsters: First meeting. 2. The 1960s. 3. Painful communication. 4. Dreams die hard. 5. Recycling the psyche. 6. The illusion of reality. 7. After thoughts: The lived life. 8. Social learning and the future. Notes. References.