Books like this frequently have innocent beginnings. The editors were among those who gathered in Plymouth, U.K., from 30 August to 2 September 1985, for the founding conference of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology. Michael Hyland, the principal organizer of the conference, had thoughtfully arranged an evening of relaxation and sightseeing aboard an excursion boat that took us some distance up the River Tamar. It was just what we needed after two days of vigorous debate over matters that could arouse only those keenly interested in the “just right” conceptualization of psychological phenomena. For the most part, however, although the seriousness abated, the discussions continued. We (C. T. and W. M.) found ourselves regretting the general lack of acquaintance among our English-speaking colleagues with the work of the German Critical Psychologists.

“Someone ought to translate a collection of key articles,” one of us said.

“Yes,” the other replied, “that's a good idea.”

“It's a fairly straightforward task.”

“Yes, with a little effort we could have the thing together by next spring.”

Almost five years later we are getting the manuscript off to the publisher. It has been five years of translating text that was often extremely difficult. It was a job that was assumed “on the side,” to be squeezed into the all-too-infrequent spaces between normal teaching and administrative and research obligations. For a time our project even had to compete with the urgencies associated with the preparation of an Habilitationsschrift.