Most Solitary of Afflictions

Most Solitary of Afflictions

Andrew Scull • Yale University Press

ISBN-10: 0300107544 · ISBN-13: 978‑0300107548 · 2005

Live offer for this book: 20 live copies of this book from $13.54 (as of 2026-09-05).

Dimensions: 8.9 × 6.3 × 2 in

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Completeness 46

Cover quality: good

2manybooks editorial

Andrew Scull's The Most Solitary Afflictions: Madness and Society in Britain 1700-1900 tells a sweeping, crucial and comprehensive story of the treatment and diagnosis of mental illness in British society from the Georgian Age on through the Industrial Revolution. This copy is in good reading condition, with some shelfwear signs and scattered highlighted phrases on a few pages. Scull sketches the transformation of care practices for "lunacy" during this time period in both England and Wales, when "mad" patients were removed from private family care and placed into at-the-time pioneering institutions. The stark differences between the reformer's hopes and realities of life in these institutions comes to light. Scull also traces the evolution of diagnoses, cultural attitudes and numerous other complex factors. This would make an excellent addition to your library of historical sociology of Great Britain, the Foucauldian school of the "history of madness" or any other concentration on institutions of Western Europe. Your order ships same day or next, and will be at your mailbox in about a week. Happy shopping!

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20 live copies of this book from $13.54 (as of 2026-09-05).

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