Mike Jay

"An illustrated cultural history of drug use from its roots in animal intoxication to its future in designer neurochemicals"--Provided by publisher.

277 p. ; 20 cm

Is mental illness-- or madness-- at root an illness of the body, a disease of the mind, or a sickness of the soul? Should those who suffer from it be secluded from society or integrated more fully into it? This book explores the meaning of mental illness through the successive incarnations of the institution that defined it: the madhouse, designed to segregate its inmates from society; the lunatic asylum, which intended to restore the reason of sufferers by humane treatment; and the mental hospital, which reduced their conditions to diseases of the brain. Rarely seen photographs and illustrations drawn from the archives of mental institutions in Europe and the U.S. illuminate and reinforce the compelling narrative, while extensive 'gallery' sections present revealing and thought-provoking artworks by asylum patients and other artists from each era of the institution and beyond.--

Darklore is a journal of exceptional observations, hidden history, the paranormal and esoteric science. Featuring contributions from Daniel Pinchbeck, Loren Coleman, Nick Redfern, Robert Schoch, Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince and many others.

Explores and answers the question if outstanding British army officer Edward Marcus Despard (1751-1803) was a hero or a villain. An energetic study of the political complexity of the 1790s and the tragic story of the last condemned to be hung, drawn and quartered.

At the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, England, founded in the closing years of the eighteenth century, dramatic experiments with gases precipitated not only a revolution in scientific medicine but also in the history of ideas. Guided by the energy of maverick doctor Thomas Beddoes, the institution was both laboratory and hospital--the first example of a modern medical research institution. But when its members discovered the mind-altering properties of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, their experiments devolved into a pioneering exploration of consciousness with far-reaching and unforeseen effects. This riveting book is the first to tell the story of Dr. Beddoes and the brilliant circle who surrounded him: Erasmus Darwin, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey, who supported his ideas; James Watt, who designed and built his laboratory; Thomas Wedgwood, who funded it; and the dazzling young chemistry assistant, Humphry Davy, who identified nitrous oxide and tested it on himself, with spectacular results. Medical historian Mike Jay charts the chaotic rise and fall of the institution in this fast-paced account, and reveals its crucial influence on modern drug culture, attitudes toward objective and subjective knowledge, the development of anesthetic surgery, and the birth of the Romantic movement.

This sensational anthology features a rich tapestry of voices exploring the powerful role that mind-altering drugs have played throughout history. It brings together a multiplicity of voices to explore the presence -- both secret and public -- of drugs in the overlapping dialogues of science and religion, pleasure and madness, individualism and social control. Featuring writings by William Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Aldous Huxley, Alice B. Toklas, Charles Baudelaire, Sigmund Freud, and an array of other seekers, Artificial Paradises locates the origins, busts the myths, examines the scientific studies, and embraces the controversy surrounding drugs, offering an honest, if not psychedelic, portrait of the lives and minds of those who have used them.