This disturbing and gripping book delves into the history of Bedlam. A place which has given it's very name to the dictionaries as meaning noisy and confused .The book follows the hospital;s history from it's beginning as the Bethlehem hospital in 1247 to the relocation in the suburbs of Kent . A truly fascinating look at the early care of the mentally ill patient Roz Radmore

Catharine Arnold once again opens up London's grusome history to the general reader while remaining both informed and humane. This time it is Bethlam mental hospital under the spotlight, where the mentally ill were chained, starved and abused, becoming a freak show for paying visitors. It is a powerful and disturbing story brought effectively to life by Arnold's punchy approach. See also my review for Underworld London.