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Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War
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Product Description
Although the shell-shocked British soldier of World War I has been a favored subject in both fiction and nonfiction, focus has been on the stories of officers, and the history of the rank-and-file servicemen who were psychiatric casualties has never been told. This profoundly moving book recounts the poignant, sometimes ribald histories of this neglected group for the first time.
Peter Barham draws on reports from the front lines, case histories, personal letters, and war pensions files to trace the lives and fortunes of a large cast of ex-servicemen who suffered mental breakdowns. He describes their confinements to asylums, the reactions of families to their relatives’ plight, the turmoil of the soldiers when they returned home—and the uphill struggle they faced trying to secure justice from the bureaucratic labyrinth that was the Ministry of Pensions. His book gives a new perspective to the impact of the Great War and to current controversies about disputed postwar maladies.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #808143 in Books
- Published on: 2007-08-21
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 464 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
"'A poignant reminder of the ordinary servicemen who sacrificed their sanity in fighting for their country.' Mark Bostridge, The Independent on Sunday 'Rather than concentrate on such war poets as Siegfried Sasson, who suffered from shell-shock, he tells the story of the rank-and-file servicemen who became psychiatric casualties but were forever after commonly referred to as 'lunatics'.' The Sunday Express 'Like many successful histories, this is a study that allows the past to speak for itself without the historian getting in the way.' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Telegraph 'Barham charts the sagas of bureaucratic indifference, callous ignorance and class prejudice with commendable restraint.' Sian Busby, The Times 'No historian could have brought to this subject the power and passion which Peter Barham sustains.' Ben Shephard, Times Literary Supplement 'A powerful offering at the Tomb of the Unknown Lunatic.' The Independent"
Review
About the Author
Peter Barham is a psychologist and social historian of mental health. He has published widely on mental health issues.
Customer Reviews
5 stars for subject matter; 4 stars for presentation
This is a heartbreaking book, in that the plight of the mentally wounded soldiers of WWI are revealed, and in realizing that so many could probably have been helped with today's therapies and drug treatments. Barham does an excellent job in uncovering the brutality (it's not too strong a word) of the "establishment" over the soldiers' disability pensions. There was no government assistance available to the in-home caregivers, and the mentality of the physicians and medical personnel of the time was extremely limited. Basically, severely shell-shocked soliders had no chance of recovery, given the limited medical understanding of the condition.
This is an important book. I could wish the writing was just a little looser; the author obviously has sympathy with the subject matter, and the detailed research can't be faulted, but there is something dry about the presentation. I still strongly recommend the book, and I think it can be useful & interesting to both the WWI "buff" and anyone interested in mental health topics.
Enlightening and Heart Breaking
Superbly researched and well presented work on the subject of the psychological cost of the Great War. The author writes with compassion and insight as well as with wonderful wit. Deeply touching and haunting, this book will leave the reader with a deeper understanding of the psychic wounds suffered by soldiers and perhaps a sense of outrage at society's ignorance of the hidden suffering of the military veteran.
Great topic, overly wordy
I found this book to be most interesting but terribly sad. However the writer's style became very tiresome. Poetic and repeated adjectives get old after a while, and the author seems to be trying to inpress his reader with his use of flowery and clever descriptions. I found it repetetive, and hard to read. I love history and have been a psychiatric professional for 35 years, so my interest level was high. The author should have included the diagnostic criteria for some of the diagnoses which were being used so often in those years, which bear little resemblance to todays criteria. A great accomplishment however.
