Madness in Civilization: A Cultural History of Insanity from the Bible to Freud, from the Madhouse to Modern Medicine - Tapa dura

'A wonderful book, fascinating and beautifully written, with Scull's usual verve and erudition' - Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind 'Holds the reader spellbound ... a compelling book from a master of his craft.' - William Bynum, Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine, University College London, and editor of Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine 'This is history at its best, scintillating in its detail and passionate about a subject that concerns us all' - Lisa Appignanesi, author of Trials of Passion: Crime in the Name of Love and Madness 'Beautifully produced, accompanied by a rich array of vivid illustrations, and elegantly and engagingly written' - History of Psychiatry 'To provide a comprehensive narrative of the cultural history of insanity across western and eastern civilizations ... would be a daunting task for anyone. That Andrew Scull has achieved this ambitious goal so adeptly is a testament to the depth and breadth of his erudition' - BBC History Magazine 'A learned, liberally humanitarian and wryly witty account ... written with such admirable verve and lucidity' - The Oldie 'Vast in scope and learning ... as illuminating as it is compendious ... a magisterial survey' - New Statesman 'Perhaps the most comprehensive account of the history of psychiatry that has yet appeared in a single volume' - The Times Literary Supplement

This hugely ambitious volume, worldwide in scope and ranging from antiquity to the present, examines the human encounter with Unreason in all its manifestations, the challenges it poses to society and our responses to it. In twelve chapters organized chronologically from the Bible to Freud, from exorcism to mesmerism, from Bedlam to Victorian asylums, from the theory of humours to modern pharmacology, Andrew Scull writes compellingly about madness, its meanings, its consequences and our various attempts to understand and treat it.