Book Details

"Undertaker of the Mind is the most splendid piece of original research for many a year on the early history of British psychiatry. Brilliantly exploiting hitherto unused documentation, Andrews and Scull bring the once murky world of the eighteenth- century mad-doctor to life, and dispel many deeply embedded myths in the process. Absolutely essential reading!"--Roy Porter, author of The Creation of the Modern World "This is a wonderfully well-written work... The authors reconstruct, in rich and convincing detail, the dilemmas faced by Monro, his patients, their families, and the broader culture when confronted with psychological distress."--Joel Braslow, author of Mental Ills and Bodily Cures "A telling reconstruction of the ideas and practice of probably the most famous psychiatrist in eighteenth-century Britain.... The analyses of Monro's more famous cases, Cruden, Ferrers, etc., are both stimulating and entertaining."--William Bynum, author of Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century