{"product_id":"madness-antonia-hylton-9781538723708","title":"Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 100 Notable Books of 2024 - A \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of 2024\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Bestseller - \u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Best Nonfiction Books of the Year -\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003eAmazon Editor's Pick for Best Books\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn the tradition of \u003ci\u003eThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks\u003c\/i\u003e, a page-turning ninety-three-year history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the nation's last segregated asylums, that the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e described as \"fascinating...meticulous research\" and bestselling author Clint Smith endorsed it as \"a book that left me breathless.\"\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e On a cold day in March of 1911, officials marched twelve Black men into the heart of a forest in Maryland. Under the supervision of a doctor, the men were forced to clear the land, pour cement, lay bricks, and harvest tobacco. When construction finished, they became the first twelve patients of the state's Hospital for the Negro Insane. For centuries, Black patients have been absent from our history books. \u003ci\u003eMadness\u003c\/i\u003e transports readers behind the brick walls of a Jim Crow asylum. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eMadness\u003c\/i\u003e, Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist Antonia Hylton tells the ninety-three-year history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the last segregated asylums with surviving records and a campus that still stands to this day in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. She blends the intimate tales of patients and employees whose lives were shaped by Crownsville with a decade-worth of investigative research and archival documents. \u003ci\u003eMadness\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles the stories of Black families whose mental health suffered as they tried, and sometimes failed, to find safety and dignity. Hylton also grapples with her own family's experiences with mental illness, and the secrecy and shame that it reproduced for generations. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As Crownsville Hospital grew from an antebellum-style work camp to a tiny city sitting on 1,500 acres, the institution became a microcosm of America's evolving battles over slavery, racial integration, and civil rights. During its peak years, the hospital's wards were overflowing with almost 2,700 patients. By the end of the 20th-century, the asylum faded from view as prisons and jails became America's new focus. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eMadness, \u003c\/i\u003eHylton traces the legacy of slavery to the treatment of Black people's bodies and minds in our current mental healthcare system. It is a captivating and heartbreaking meditation on how America decides who is sick or criminal, and who is worthy of our care or irredeemable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Antonia Hylton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1538723700\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781538723708\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Legacy Lit\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/30\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Antonia Hylton","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46927642755327,"sku":"9781538723708","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_163be1a1-61af-42a5-a182-23769622e43b.jpg?v=1749372504","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/madness-antonia-hylton-9781538723708","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}