Roy Porter
What was it like to be insane in the Georgian England of Mary Wollstonecraft and Coleridge? Indeed, how was the most famous mad person of the centuryâ€”Shelleyâ€™s â€œold, mad, blind, despised kingâ€ George IIIâ€”treated before his final descent into insanity in 1808? The best-selling popular historian, Roy Porter, looks at the bizarre and savage practices used by doctors for treating those afflicted by manias, ranging from huge doses of opium, blood-letting, and cold water immersion to beatings, confinement in cages, and blistering. The author also reveals how Bethlemâ€”the London asylum created to care for the mentally sick of the capitalâ€”was riddled with sadism and embezzlement, and if that wasnâ€™t dehumanizing enough, ogling sightseers were permitted entryâ€”for a fee of course.
History,Psychology,Nonfiction,Science,History Of Science,Medical,History,History Of Medicine,Sociology
Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad Doctors  Lunatics