Published: July 04, 2011
Words: 40906 (approximate)
Language: English

Short description

Broadmoor Revealed takes the reader on a journey round Victorian England’s Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Recounting personal stories from a place where true crime meets mental illness, the book takes in gunshot at Queen Victoria and poison in Brighton, as well as the artist Richard Dadd and lexicographer William Chester Minor. A hospital, not a prison: tales of insanity, murder and more.

Extended description

Broadmoor Revealed gives the reader a glimpse behind the walls of England’s first Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Focused on the Victorian period, the book tells the stories of some of the hospital’s best-known patients. There is Edward Oxford, who shot at Queen Victoria, and Richard Dadd, the brilliant artist and murderer of his father. There is also William Chester Minor, the surgeon from America who killed a stranger in London, and then played a key part in creating the world's finest dictionary. Finally, there is Christiana Edmunds, ‘The Chocolate Cream Poisoner’ and frustrated lover.

To these four tales are added new ones, previously unknown. There were five women who went on to become mothers in Broadmoor, giving birth to life when three of them had previously taken it. Then there were the numerous escapes, actual and attempted, as the first doctors tried to assert control over their residents.

These are stories from the edge of where true crime meets mental illness. Br... (Read more) Broadmoor Revealed gives the reader a glimpse behind the walls of England’s first Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Focused on the Victorian period, the book tells the stories of some of the hospital’s best-known patients. There is Edward Oxford, who shot at Queen Victoria, and Richard Dadd, the brilliant artist and murderer of his father. There is also William Chester Minor, the surgeon from America who killed a stranger in London, and then played a key part in creating the world's finest dictionary. Finally, there is Christiana Edmunds, ‘The Chocolate Cream Poisoner’ and frustrated lover.

To these four tales are added new ones, previously unknown. There were five women who went on to become mothers in Broadmoor, giving birth to life when three of them had previously taken it. Then there were the numerous escapes, actual and attempted, as the first doctors tried to assert control over their residents.

These are stories from the edge of where true crime meets mental illness. Broadmoor Revealed recounts what life was like for the criminally insane, over one hundred years ago.
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Tags

murder, true crime, mental illness, prison, hospital, escape, poison, queen victoria, criminally insane, lunacy

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Reviews

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Review by: El Dink on Feb. 25, 2012 :
Before The Priory there was Broadmoor. Britain's first mental health institution to not be employ vaguely rational rehabilitation techniques, the institution is so famous that 'being sent to Broadmoor' is a well-known euphemism for going nuts.

In Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum, Mark Stevens has access to the Broadmoor archives and uses it to tell the story of how the institute was founded, as well as the sensational tales of some of its most famous occupants.

Attempted regicide plays a big part in the story, with James Hadfield's attempt on the life of George III (himself noted for being a bit doolally) playing a part in the hospital being founded. There's Edward Oxford who failed to amuse Queen Victoria by shooting at her; Richard Dadd, the painter/murderer; Edward Minor, who famous helped to write the first Oxford English Dictonary (before cutting off his own penis); and Christiana Edmunds who gave poisoned cakes to strangers, thereby laying the groundwork for what would eventually become Gregg's.

The stories are beautifully told and Stevens has a wonderful knack for giving life to every patient and doctor. Most strikingly, he captures how the ethos of Broadmoor was one of a genuine desire to cure and rehabilitate. It's quite surprising, as the normal view of Victorian mental health is one of patients being beaten with sticks while being told to pull themselves together.

In the prologue, Stevens says that this is a tester and if well-received, then he will write a longer book. El Dink's vote is: more please. This is a lovely little book, one of the finest gems to be made available free. We can't wait to read more.

(reposted from http://www.eldink.co.uk)
(review of free book)

Review by: Sharon E. Cathcart on Sep. 20, 2011 :
Wow! If you are interested in psychiatric history, the Victorian era, or true crime, this book is for you.

Archivist Mark Stevens works with the Berkshire Records Office and thus has access to the case histories of Broadmoor's inmates, its governors and more. This book is a sampling of case studies (including that of painter Richard Dadd, whose works hang in the Tate Gallery, and William Minor, a major contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary), births in the asylum and various escape attempts.

Stevens brings both the concept of "moral treatment" (an idea developed by English Quakers to help mental health patients, which sounds like something far different from what it is) and the life of asylum patients into the light for readers in a way that is interesting and compassionate. "Moral treatment" involved nutritious food, rest and useful work at the level that each patient was able to manage.

Broadmoor not only had mental health patients but also prisoners, and there were some management issues between the two very different populations. Attempts by Broadmoor's governors to deal with those issues are detailed.

Stevens provides a lovely annotated bibliography at the end of this book so that readers may see the original documents on patients, the asylum's history, etc., from which he worked.

I have already recommended this outstanding source to people with an interest in the subject matter, and have no doubt that I will continue to do so with regularity.
(review of free book)

Review by: K.J. Pierce on July 24, 2011 :
I was familiar, at least in part, with Broadmoor due to a fascination with the Krays and welcomed the opportunity to learn a bit more about its beginnings and some of the people who spent time within its walls.

It's easy to presume that the care of Victorian Era mental health patients - both the criminally insane and otherwise - was a bit barbaric especially in comparison to the current state of mental health care. Broadmoor Revealed could have easily slid into the realm of salaciousness, however Mark Stevens provides an even-handed account of all the information he provides, sticking to the facts while providing interesting narratives, never once succumbing to a "tabloid" viewpoint.

Extremely well-written - academic in tone, but doesn't resort to overuse of academic buzzwords and provides an overview of Broadmoor and some of its inmates that is informative without the feeling of anything being glossed over. I, for one, would LOVE a more in depth look.
(review of free book)

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