51.
Author: Catharine Arnold
Title: Bedlam: London and Its Mad
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 277 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
Acquisition: LT Recommendation by Ellie
Date Completed: July 2, 2010
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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.