Beginning with their first meeting in 1956 and ending with Maxwell Jones' death in 1990, A Life Well Lived follows the growth of a friendship between two key figures in social psychiatry and tracks the evolution of therapeutic communities from their experimental beginnings to the established practices that exist today. As a close friend and frequent collaborator, Briggs is able to recount in detail Jones' revolutionary work in mental hospitals, prisons, communities and schools, and offers a rare and engaging insight into the mind of one of the most important pioneers in the therapeutic community field.