Producer Victoria Shepherd documents an interesting psychological phenomenon through ten case histories in this new book based on her BBC Radio 4 documentary series. Although the cases themselves are fascinating, Publisher's Weekly, in a starred review, is careful to note, "Shepherd opts for empathy over prurience, highlighting the humanity of her subjects and lucidly drawing out the dream logic by which their delusions operate." This thought-provoking work should appeal to fans of such Oliver Sacks titles as Hallucinations and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.The extraordinary ways the brain can misfire
- The King of France--thinking he was made of glass--was terrified he might shatter...and he wasn't alone.
- After the Emperor met his end at Waterloo, an epidemic of Napoleons piled into France's asylums.
- Throughout the nineteenth century, dozens of middle-aged women tried to convince their physicians that they were, in fact, dead.
For centuries we've dismissed delusions as something for doctors to sort out behind locked doors. But delusions are more than just bizarre quirks--they hold the key to collective anxieties and traumas. In this groundbreaking history, Victoria Shepherd uncovers stories of delusions from medieval times to the present day and implores us to identify reason in apparent madness.