Bedlam: London and Its Mad

Sometimes I get too eager when I discover a book that I forget to check the condition. Here is another example of never purchasing a "Good" copy again. I would have put this edition in the "barely acceptable" category. All my fault. It will not happen again!

Catharine Arnold's Bedlam traces the treatment of the unstable from medieval diagnosis to the current condition of local establishments in London. As the title promises, the book covers many institutions, and not just the notorious Bethlem which has gifted the English language with the term "bedlam". Ever-conscious of her readers, Arnold presents the history of madness and treatment in an entertaining fashion, and skillfully supplies readers with all information they need to truly understand the institution and its history. Bedlam traces the evolving social stigmas attached to madness, the treatments used throughout the ages, and short biographies of the men who decided to make the mad their life's work. As promised, Arnold provides detailed descriptions of public hospitals such as Bethlem, and provides interesting anecdotes about the patients that once roamed (or sat manacled to) the halls. I am rating the book as 4 out of 5 stars simply because I recently read Showalter's The Female Malady, and found it more engrossing. However, Bedlam is a highly enjoyable - and occasionally terrifying - history of London madness, and I would certainly recommend the book.