For more than a century, classical neurology and psychology have been dominated by the idea that the principle activities of the brain are unconscious and unknown to us, that our consciousness is but a small factor in mental function. In this book, the author reconsiders the evidence of famous clinical cases in neurology - as well as new evidence from the cognitive sciences - and argues instead that consciousness is the major business of the brain, that memories, language, and the thoughts and drives responsible for our everyday sense of life are all integral parts of the protean yet fragile structure of consciousness.