In providing a comprehensive history of hypnosis, Hypnosis, Will and Memory illuminates current debates concerning its use in legal and investigative proceedings. Jean-Roch Laurence and Campbell Perry show how powerful certain beliefs and expectations that have always pervaded hynopsis remain in more contemporary thought. Does the hypnotized subject give up all control to the hynoptist? Can a subject be made to do something against his or her will? Is a subject’s recall more accurate in hypnosis? Or does hynopsis obscure remembered events by implicitly asking the subject to “fill in the blanks”? The authors explore more than just these practical problems: An implicit theme is the plausibility of scientifically generating “facts” about what a subject is experiencing and how theoretical stances can colour interpretation of subjective phenomena.

This original and well-researched critique will be a valuable resource for anyone in experimental, clinical, or forensic hypnosis, as well as for practitioners and students in related psychological, medical, and legal fields. In addition, the thoroughness of the author’s historical research makes it valuable to historians and to the general scholarly reader.

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