Originally published in 1991, Death and Desire presents in Lacanian terms a new integration of psychoanalytic theory in which the battery of key Freudian concepts - from the dynamics of the Oedipus complex to the topography of ego, id, and superego - are seen to intersect in Freud's most far-reaching and speculative formulation of a drive toward death. Boothby argues that Lacan repositioned the theme of death in psychoanalysis in relation to Freud's main concern - the nature and fate of desire. In doing so, Lacan rediscovered Freud's essential insights in a manner so nuanced and penetrating that prevailing assessments of the death instinct may well have to be re-examined.