This book offers a general introduction to historical sources in the history of psychiatry, delving into the range of sources that can be used to investigate this dynamic and exciting field.
"Over the last decade the scope of the history of psychiatry has expanded significantly, with a growing amount of material available through which to understand the contested politics, treatments, and lived experiences of mental illness. In this volume, Chris Millard and Jennifer Wallis bring together an outstanding collection of researchers to map out these new territories. Together they have created an indispensable guide for practitioners, students, historians, policy makers, and family researchers exploring the complex and often obscure roots of our current understandings of mental health."
Rhodri Hayward, Queen Mary University of London, UK
"This book is an indispensable resource for anyone writing on the history of mental health, from students and academics to those writing local, family, and survivor histories. Chris Millard and Jennifer Wallis have assembled a Who's Who of current experts in the field to guide us through institutional and medical sources for the history of psychiatry. But this collection goes beyond the clinical territory, to include activist and radical histories, literary sources, and the sensitivities and ethics of oral histories. By incorporating the voice of lived experience and marginalised individuals, this handbook will help us move towards a more democratic and representative history of mental health."
Sarah Marks, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
"Chris Millard and Jennifer Wallis have created the first port of call for any historian interested in doing original research in the history of psychiatry. Featuring contributions from historians doing innovative, cutting-edge research, Sources in the History of Psychiatry will help historians from all career stages navigate the many fascinating primary sources that can reveal how mental health has been experienced and understood since 1800."
Matthew Smith, University of Strathclyde, UK
"Given the growing interest in the history of mental illness and the institutions dedicated to looking after mental patients in the past, this is a timely and incredibly useful book. With their overviews and illustrative examples, the chapters in this collection show readers where sources can be found and demonstrate how these can be turned into engaging histories. Whether you are an academic teaching 'Madness and Society', a student studying the history of mental health, or an amateur historian interested in the history of your local mental hospital, this book is for you."
Carsten Timmerman, University of Manchester, UK
