{"product_id":"madhouse-andrew-scull-9780300126709","title":"Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Reads as much like a novel as it does a work of medical scholarship.\"--Patrick McGrath, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Madhouse reveals\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ea long-suppressed medical scandal, shocking in its brutality and sobering in its implications. It shows how a leading American psychiatrist of the early twentieth century came to believe that mental illnesses were the product of chronic infections that poisoned the brain. Convinced that he had uncovered the single source of psychosis, Henry Cotton, superintendent of the Trenton State Hospital, New Jersey, launched a ruthless campaign to \"eliminate the perils of pus infection.\" Teeth were pulled, tonsils excised, and stomachs, spleens, colons, and uteruses were all sacrificed in the assault on \"focal sepsis.\" Many patients did not survive Cotton's surgeries; thousands more were left mangled and maimed. Cotton's work was controversial, yet none of his colleagues questioned his experimental practices. Subsequent historians and psychiatrists too have ignored the events that cast doubt on their favorite narratives of scientific and humanitarian progress. In a remarkable feat of historical detective work, Andrew Scull exposes the full, frightening story of madness among the mad-doctors. Drawing on a wealth of documents and interviews, he reconstructs in vivid detail a nightmarish, cautionary chapter in modern psychiatry when professionals failed to police themselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Andrew Scull\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0300126700\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780300126709\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Yale University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/04\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.12w x 1.08d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/25\/2007 pg. 32","brand":"Andrew Scull","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43913593618687,"sku":"9780300126709","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_cf15381a-5efc-441c-a9a9-20fabae28b7e.jpg?v=1680621253","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/madhouse-andrew-scull-9780300126709","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}