Among all other species, human race has experienced the most unimaginable traumas: world wars, horrible pandemics, repressive regimes, global crises, prisons, slaving etc. No one of any other species has faced something similar. Despite all these traumas, and sometimes also because of them, we are the only one specie capable to build better and safer societies, to write poems, to compose music, to produce science and technology, to innovate continuously. Our grandeur resides in our resilience and post-traumatic growth, not in our misery. This book is a psychological inquiry into the world of trauma, posttraumatic stress, resilience, and posttraumatic growth. It relies on a comprehensive and critical review of the literature, from psychopathology to philosophy, testifying an impressive capacity of the author to find patterns and communalities there where an inexperienced researcher would find only epistemic relativism. It is a book elaborated according to the real state of the art and knowledge in the domain of posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth. Theories and explanatory models are carefully exploited to draw relevant consequences for assessment and interventions. It is an obligatory reading for any student interested on the depths and heights of the human mind. prof.dr. Mircea Miclea