Bedlam by Catharine Arnold

Ann Wroe on how the story of the world’s most famous mental hospital reveals centuries of cruelty and attemped kindness

She was led to a room with straw on the floor. It made her dream she was a beaten horse. She was given a scalding bath, then a cold one, to stop her screaming. When she didn’t stop, she was taken to a room called “pads”, lined with grey rubber, on which she could pound her fists without being heard. Here she received a visit from two nurses with a bucket and a length of tubing, coming to force-feed her.

Review: Bedlam by Catharine Arnold - Telegraph.