Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is a sobering look at Victorian Asylums. I liked the style of the beginning, where it is written as though you are an incoming patient and the book is your manual. It's a stark reminder that mental illness has always been handled in the wrong ways, and while we have come a long way, we still have a long way to go.

This fascinating, and often disturbing, book illustrated how easy it was to be committed to an asylum. The treatments that patients were subjected to so early on in our understanding of mental health care with nothing short of barbaric.
This didn't feel to me to be a book you would read in one sitting, but more of something you would dip in and out of s you go.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A very well written account of life in the Victorian Asylum-an interesting subject-sad in places-so glad society no longer applies the same practices.

This book was extremely fascinating as well as educational. Mental health awareness is extremely important even today. This book shows us how far we have come and yet more on how much to this day we need to learn from to make more strides. I really appricated the authors details as sad as parts were to read at times I think everyone must read this! Thank you NetGalley for my ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have seen two different, though very similar covers for this book, I actually prefer the green cover with the kind of ripped paper format, the imposing building that is the asylum, set back away from any other buildings nearby.

I attempted to read this book, not getting beyond 14% as I found the book rather long winded for my taste. It came across like the author was trying to put forward the positive points on how the asylums and treatment were improved. Things were described in such minute detail. There definitely felt like this book was coming from a “positive slant” in favour of asylums. It was almost “holiday brochure” like as if it was trying to encourage people to go there.

Sadly, after trying to read the book again from the beginning, a month or so later and once again failing to be grasped by it, though reading a little further than the original 14% I decided it was time to “DNF” it. It’s not that often I don’t finish a book but unfortunately it was the case with this one. I have read other non-fiction, history books and been enthralled by the daily living of those featured within them as well as their surroundings and lives but just did not “click” at all with this one. Which is a shame as from the blurb I had honestly expected to find it informative and highly interesting.

To sum up, basically this one was just not for me. There was so much description, lines and lines in places, where perhaps just one or two lines would have sufficed.

What a clever, accessible read by a knowledgeable author! I really enjoyed this read and learning so much by a very thorough journey through a Victorian mental asylum.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4 "elegant, accessible, smooth" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, Pen and Sword History and the author for an e-book copy in exchange for my honest review. This book was first published in 2014 and re-released July 2020.

Mr. Stevens is an archivist by profession and has written an excellent social history of a Victorian asylum in England. The name was Moulsford Asylum with some secondary information from nearby Broadmoor Asylum. Many people have a skewed understanding of the history of the care of the severely mentally ill and think of Bedlam in London with crowded, cruel and archaic treatments. This book lays some of these myths to rest and takes us through how the poor mentally ill could receive very good care in comfortable surrounding with compassionate staff through the moral treatment or the use of work and leisure to help those afflicted with severe conditions.

Mr. Stevens acknowledges that the care was paternalistic but in many ways it seems superior to the release of many severely ill into homeless shelters and prison that often happen today.

Mr. Stevens writes elegantly, accessibly and imparts a great deal of information about political history, social history, architecture, early psychiatry and interpersonal relations. Initially he writes as if it were a patient handbook although the depth of information make it more akin to an employee's handbook. He then goes on to describe larger social forces and gives a few brief case histories.

All in all, I found this to be a most informative and measured read. Thank you Mr. Stevens !

I’m a little obsessed with the Victorian period. I also have a personal interest in mental health. To have the two combined I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed. It was an interesting quick read.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

What a fascinating quick read! It was written like a manual for new patients into the insane asylum in the first half and then gave facts about victorian insane asylums in the 2nd half. Very well researched and the writing drew you in and kept you enthralled. Nice little historical book.

Takes you on a trip like you are going into the asylum from coming into staying there for a short term or long term. What start to finish is like. It is interesting for those who look in the history of mental health/care.

Interesting look on the life of the Victorian asylum. It reads like an instructing manual. All you need to know for you or your loved one’s stay. Simply written, so an easy read, but I found it difficult to stay interested half way through. After all who reads the full T&C’s or instructions in life ? It does however start and finish well. The Author has a vast knowledge of the victorian asylum and it is an extensive, detailed account of how they worked. It even mentions the reason for exit of the asylum.

As someone that is interested in Psychology, I enjoyed learning about what mental health treatment was like in the Victorian Age. Many of the patients spent their lives in asylums and were not treated cruelly, as is the general opinion of many. The author highlights the ways that these institutions paved the way for better and more humane care.

Thank you to the author, Pen & Sword Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

I love all things history. I also have this weird obsession with the dark corners of history. Life in the Victorian Asylum: The World of Nineteenth-Century Mental Health Care by Mark Stevens is definitely piqued my interest. This nonfiction book is broken up into two parts: The Victorian Asylum Patient’s Handbook and the History of Victorian Asylums. The author goes into great detail about the layout of these asylums and even some misconceptions about mental health in this time period. Most would assume that mental health patients were tortured, as they were throughout most of history, but the Victorian Age did see some progress when it came to treating mental illness. The book then concludes with maps, diagrams, and photos from the time period.

I love historical nonfiction but this book missed the target. Maybe it is because I had assumed there would be more discussion about mental health. The first 70-75% of the book reads like an information leaflet. It is in the second person, addressing the reader as if they are the ones looking at the mental institution. The concept is unique but did not nail the execution. There is more information describing the look of the mental institution and servants than it did about mental illness. I was hoping for more stories about the patients and what exactly their treatment plan was at that time.

Even the second half didn’t quite hit the target for me. The author touches on different laws and acts that were made during the Victorian Era. Don’t get me wrong, there is quite a bit of research that went into this book, but just not the type of research I was expecting. Anyway, this book gets 2 out of 5 stars from me.

The author presents his facts in a highly original format, addressing the reader/prospective mental patient from the perspective of a Victorian asylum, clearly outlining the raison d’être, management and day-to-day realities of such a place. It reads very much like an extensive manual or a welcome brochure. As we get our information from the 19th century perspective, what I missed a little was the comparison or addition of contemporary insights regarding certain topics. On the whole though, I thought it was very enlightening, and I was struck by the benevolent and earnest principles that lay at the heart of the care for mental health patients in (mostly the latter half of) the 19th century, which the author took great pains to illustrate. It was very different, of course, both from a medical and societal point of view, than it is today but it appears that they did have their patients best interests in mind whereas I had expected a much grimmer and uncaring outlook, perhaps more in line with the negligence and abuse the so-called “lunatics” faced before the reforms in the Victorian era, something more in line with the nightmarish images conjured by the infamous Bedlam. Roughly 80% of the book is written this way, and then there’s a part 2 in which we get some more concrete details about the people that lived and worked in either Moulsford or Broadmoor, the asylums the author uses as a basis for his book. I had hoped for more of that type of thing because I like to link historical events to actual people and learn how it impacted their lives, still it was a fascinating and informative read. Absolutely recommend this.

Fascinating eye opening look at people in Victorian asylumS.Very interesting well written eye opening history highly recommend.#netgalley#penn&sword.

An interesting topic tackled in an innovative way - partly offering a guidebook to life in a Victorian asylum. The Victorians were inventive, experimental and pioneering in most aspects of life, mental health was no exception. The book might have benefited from a wider context - the scientific shifts and vacillating societal expectations that drove the treatments and 'cures' that were employed. Approaches to mental health are constantly changing - I suspect we would be more shocked by treatment of sufferers in the 1950s and 60s than we might be by those described here. There is a tendency for history to view the Victorian age as quaint, quirky and naive but we should not forget that, like us, they thought they were the future...

If you are expecting a scholarly account of how the Victorians handled mental health care then I'm afraid this book is going to disappoint. Its more of a Ladybird book in a series 'Life in a...'.

The books main section is set out like a lengthy pamphlet you might get in hospital today - guidance for the patient. It talks of their mission statement, which is a ludicrous anachronism; it advises you what will happen at each stage and how your care will be handled. Apart from the fact that anyone being sectioned into a mental institution was hardly likely to be in a frame of mind to read this, if indeed they could read, the whole thing is simplistic and nonsensical.

The asylum being described is fictional - a mixture of Broadmoor and Moulsford Asylums in Berkshire. There are a few case histories briefly alluded to - more for the shock factor than for enlightenment.

It is a shame, as beneath the unfortunate choice of style there is some solid research, and the reader is given a flavour of what life in an asylum was like, although it all sounds such a utopia I am surprised the local poor weren't queuing at the door. The book presents an idealistic establishment and one suspects the reality, given that the staff are after all only human and dealing with very difficult situations, was probably often very different.

The final chapters bring the reader up to date and explain why the author chose the establishments he did on which to base his fictional asylum. There are no references or footnotes and the bibliography is very sparing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Sword History for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about the history of Victorian Asylums I found the book to be well-written, well-researched, and very engaging.

I also found it to be a very readable,with a interesting layout part one is written as a patients handbook with a Victorian tone and perspective while part two is the patient's experience as seen with a 21st century perspective.

As lover of history books I would definitely recommend this book to anybody with an interesting history.

I look forward to reading more books by the author.

Very interesting to read. It’s a subject people don’t like to talk about it’s taboo. So reading this book was great. It really opened my eyes to a lot . It was very well written