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Is mental illness - or madness - at root an illness of the body, a disease of the mind, or a sickness of the soul? Should those who suffer from it be secluded from society or integrated more fully into it? This Way Madness Lies explores the meaning of mental illness through the successive incarnations of the institution that defined it: the madhouse, designed to segregate its inmates from society; the lunatic asylum, which intended to restore the reason of sufferers by humane treatment; and the mental hospital, which reduced their conditions to diseases of the brain. Moving and sometimes provocative illustrations and photographs, sourced from the Wellcome Collection's extensive archives and the archives of mental institutions in Europe and the U.S., illuminate and reinforce the compelling narrative, while extensive `gallery' sections present revealing and thought-provoking artworks by asylum patients and other artists from each era of the institution and beyond. 'A fascinating tour d'horizon' - Guardian 'Fascinating and lavishly illustrated' - Wall Street Journal 'Superb...the text exhibits all the lucidity you could wish for when struggling to apprehend this most disturbing and problematic of subjects' - Will Self, The London Review of Books 'Immaculately researched ... essential reading' - The Psychologist

This Way Madness Lies: The Asylum and Beyond

Introduction * 1. The Madhouse 1676-1815 * 2. The Lunatic Asylum 1815-1930 3. The Mental Hospital 1930 and beyond * Epilogue