In an insightful treatment of the early years of John Bowlby's life and work, Suzan van Dijken sheds light on a number of events that are very much linked to the eventual creation of Attachment Theory but have not been known about or published to date. In addition, she provides much new information about topics that Bowlby was quite reluctant to discuss in detail, whether in public or in private, and yet are clearly connected to his later life and theoretical pursuits.This biographical portrait covers in great depth Bowlby's family of origin, his upbringing, schooling and later education, his little-known work with Cyril Burt, his introduction to psychoanalysis, and his involvement in some of the major events in that world, including the Controversial Discussions between Anna Freud and Melanie Klein.