Daniel Hack Tuke’s Chapters in the History of the Insane in the British Isles surveys how mental illness was understood and treated from medieval times onward. Tuke, a noted authority on psychological medicine, examines the asylums, laws, beliefs, and practices that shaped the lives of the mentally ill across the centuries, including the often harsh conditions of earlier ages and the gradual movement toward more humane care.
Tracing the story from the medieval period through later reform, the work documents the institutions and attitudes that governed the treatment of madness in Britain and Ireland. Tuke combines historical research with the perspective of a reforming physician. Readers interested in the history of medicine, psychiatry, or social welfare will find it illuminating. This free EPUB edition revives an important early history of the care of the mentally ill in the British Isles.