Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War - Softcover

Barham, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300125119 ISBN 13: 9780300125115

Publisher: Yale University Press UK SR, 2007

Synopsis

Touching, ribald and profoundly moving, this book recounts the histories of the ordinary British servicemen who suffered as psychiatric casualties of World War I. Focusing on their experiences - rather than those of their officers - it provides a new and personal perspective on the impact of the Great War. 'A poignant reminder of the ordinary servicemen who sacrificed their sanity in fighting for their country' Mark Bostridge, 'The Independent on Sunday' 'No historian could have brought to this subject the power and passion which Peter Barham sustains' Ben Shephard, 'Times Literary Supplement' 'Fascinating, eloquent and well-researched ... a book that should be widely read and discussed' Adam Phillips, 'London Review of Books' Peter Barham is a social historian of mental health and a psychologist. Currently a Research Associate at the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of Oxford, he is also an established author.

About this title

Product Description:

Draws on reports from the front lines, case histories, personal letters, and war pensions files to trace the lives and fortunes of a large cast of ex-servicemen who suffered mental breakdowns. This book describes their confinements to asylums, the reactions of families to their relatives' plight, the turmoil when they returned home, and more.

Review:

"Like many successful histories, this is a study that allows the past to speak for itself without the historian getting in the way."--Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Telegraph
"Barham charts the saga(s) of bureaucratic indifference, callous ignorance and class prejudice with commendable restraint."--Sian Busby, The Times (London)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press UK SR
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0300125119
• ISBN 13: 9780300125115
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 470