Bedlam: London's Hospital for the Mad - Hardcover

Chambers, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0711033870 ISBN 13: 9780711033870

Verlag: Ian Allan Publishing, 2009

Über diesen Titel

Reseña del editor:

Bethlem Hospital is the oldest mental institution in the world, but to many it is famous only as 'Bedlam', a chaotic madhouse which brutalised its patients. Although for much of Bedlam's history such abuse was rare, during the dynastic control of the Munro family - between 1728 and 1855 - a brutal medical programme was implemented, giving Bedlam an unsavoury reputation as one of Europe's most notorious psychiatric hospitals.
Using new and detailed research, historian Dr. Paul Chambers brings together a coherent overview of the hospital's 800-year-old history - from Bethlem's well-intended beginnings in Bishopgate to its final disgrace and reform in Southwark. Focusing on the 'Munro era' - and structured around a fascinating account of the Munro dynasty - Chambers explores key elements of the hospital's history. Revealed are fascinating details of its ambivalent relationship with London and Londoners, the life and times of the hospital's more infamous patients: political dissenters, religious maniacs, murderers and female transvestites and finally the rise of a powerful reform movement which forced the government to take the issue of Bedlam seriously.

Reseña del editor:

We all know the word 'bedlam' as a term of madness and confusion, but few of us really know the story of how this term was coined, or how the real history of Bethlem Hospital in London came to epitomise the brutality long associated with lunatic asylums all over the country. Dr Paul Chambers, a published historian, has done some detailed research to bring the whole story of Bethlem Hospital to a new audience, and he provides a coherent overview of the entire 800 year history of this famous hospital, from its well-intended beginnings to its final disgrace and reform.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Ian Allan Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0711033870
• ISBN 13: 9780711033870
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304