Hi all!
My first solo book will be out on 30th July (just a few weeks!), and hopefully its of enough interest and relevance to many of you to exucse the shameless plug.
It details the history of the eleven London County Lunatic Asylums opened between 1831 and 1924, including some of our top favourites over the years!:
Hanwell (St Bernard's), Colney Hatch (Friern), Banstead, Cane Hill, Claybury, Bexley, Manor, Horton, St Ebba's, Long Grove, and West Park.
I'm discussing the reasons for the asylums' creation and how they were built, what went on inside them, what life was like for patients and staff, what the thinking and idealogy to mental health care was at different times, and how cures or treatments were administered (or attempted). It will also look at life during wartime, changing attitudes during the 20th Century, and the eventual emptying-out and closure of the buildings from the late 1960s to very recently. There will also (of course!) be some discussion of abandonment and what happened to them after closure.
While there will be an (un)healthy dose of geeky discussion about architecture, asylum layouts, building types and so on, this is certainly not to be a "dry", plodding history, and includes a wealth of interesting nuggets regarding the patients who lived (and often died) in these astounding buildings that were so beloved by so many while also so absolutely reviled by others. Despite writing many of the profiles on countyasylums.co.uk, many new things were dug up while writing the book and there are some interesting things that were new to me as well.
There are several of my own images included, as well as many old / archival images too.
Although you can obviously import it, it will be available easily enough outside the UK too, although may not appear on storefronts in North America until late the following month (although that may be subject to change).
I wanted to set up an option to buy it directly from me, but it may prove tough to beat the pre-order prices after publication - so if you'd like to pre-order, can I suggest this site:
https://www.hive.co.uk/.../A-History-of-London.../27042113
At £12.15, it's at least £3 off the RRP, and every sale goes towards funding local bookshops, which is cool. You can read more about that here if interested:
https://www.hive.co.uk/WhatsHiveallabout
Give me a shout or comment if you have any questions, etc.
My first solo book will be out on 30th July (just a few weeks!), and hopefully its of enough interest and relevance to many of you to exucse the shameless plug.
It details the history of the eleven London County Lunatic Asylums opened between 1831 and 1924, including some of our top favourites over the years!:
Hanwell (St Bernard's), Colney Hatch (Friern), Banstead, Cane Hill, Claybury, Bexley, Manor, Horton, St Ebba's, Long Grove, and West Park.
I'm discussing the reasons for the asylums' creation and how they were built, what went on inside them, what life was like for patients and staff, what the thinking and idealogy to mental health care was at different times, and how cures or treatments were administered (or attempted). It will also look at life during wartime, changing attitudes during the 20th Century, and the eventual emptying-out and closure of the buildings from the late 1960s to very recently. There will also (of course!) be some discussion of abandonment and what happened to them after closure.
While there will be an (un)healthy dose of geeky discussion about architecture, asylum layouts, building types and so on, this is certainly not to be a "dry", plodding history, and includes a wealth of interesting nuggets regarding the patients who lived (and often died) in these astounding buildings that were so beloved by so many while also so absolutely reviled by others. Despite writing many of the profiles on countyasylums.co.uk, many new things were dug up while writing the book and there are some interesting things that were new to me as well.
There are several of my own images included, as well as many old / archival images too.
Although you can obviously import it, it will be available easily enough outside the UK too, although may not appear on storefronts in North America until late the following month (although that may be subject to change).
I wanted to set up an option to buy it directly from me, but it may prove tough to beat the pre-order prices after publication - so if you'd like to pre-order, can I suggest this site:
https://www.hive.co.uk/.../A-History-of-London.../27042113
At £12.15, it's at least £3 off the RRP, and every sale goes towards funding local bookshops, which is cool. You can read more about that here if interested:
https://www.hive.co.uk/WhatsHiveallabout
Give me a shout or comment if you have any questions, etc.