William James made a significant contribution to American intellectual life and the discipline of psychology. This biography ties his thought and life together in a personal and detailed way. The text uses material including James' diaries, class notes, family correspondence, and love letters to his wife, Alice and goes beyond a chronology of key events in James' life to focus on a detailed account of his intellectual and creative development. Instead of concentrating on the importance of James' "spiritual crisis" in the late 1800s, it reveals the emotional dependence that he had on his wife Alice.