Full length biographies of psychiatrists are rare. Reg Ellery was the most prominent Australian psychiatrist between the wars. The Prophet of Psychiatry is a fine-grained account of the working life of a distinguished psychiatrist, as well as his involvement with the Melbourne intellectual and cultural circles of his day. It provides an insight into the development of Australian psychiatry from the asylum era to the establishment of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry, in addition to an account of the life of a talented man prepared to stand up for his views but ultimately experiencing a degree of disillusionment before his death.