Author(s): Victoria Shepherd

Sociology | Psychology | History

The extraordinary ways the brain can misfire.

'Fascinating and compassionate' Horatio Clare

• The King of France - thinking he was made of glass - was terrified he might shatter...and he wasn't alone.


• After the Emperor met his end at Waterloo, an epidemic of Napoleons piled into France's asylums.


• Throughout the nineteenth century, dozens of middle-aged women tried to convince their physicians that they were, in fact, dead.

For centuries we've dismissed delusions as something for doctors to sort out behind locked doors. But delusions are more than just bizarre quirks - they hold the key to collective anxieties and traumas.
In this groundbreaking history, Victoria Shepherd uncovers stories of delusions from medieval times to the present day and implores us to identify reason in apparent madness.

Review:

'A varied and thought-provoking journey.' - The Times

'Fascinating and compassionate.'-- Horatio Clare, author of Heavy Light

'Riveting case histories grounded in context and narrated with novelistic verve and impressive authority.'-- Julie Kavanagh, author of The Irish Assassins

'An utterly engrossing book. It reaches through layers of mania and the distance of centuries to connect you completely to its subjects, such that you miss them when they're gone.'-- Zoe Williams

'Meticulously researched... this is a good time to take delusions seriously.'-- Daily Express

'This absorbing study... Shepherd goes beyond formal, detached accounts by physicians, trying instead to get a glimpse of whole human beings whose lives unravelled through trauma into delusional thinking... a humane, attentive exploration of locked-in worlds inhabited by people whose mental certainties could be both comforting and terrifying.'-- BBC History Magazine

'In this bewitching debut, Shepherd adapts her BBC Radio 4 series of the same name, providing a delightfully strange account of delusions... An exquisite chapter tells the story of the 17th-century psychological theorist Robert Burton... Reminiscent of Oliver Sachs, Shepherd opts for empathy over prurience, highlighting the humanity of her subjects and lucidly drawing out the dream logic by which their delusions operate. This is a wondrous reminder of the intricacy and paradox of the human mind.'* Publishers Weekly, starred review *

'A timely reminder that nothing is new, just how we deal with it. Shepherd's evocative descriptions take you from seventeenth-century Oxford to twentieth-century Paris with detail as rich as the stories she uncovers. Thought-provoking as well as deeply informative.'-- Annie Gray, author of Victory in the Kitchen

'Each chapter opens with a compelling portrait of someone whose life was consumed, even destroyed, by a false idea... Poignant... By looking back on historical examples of the phenomenon, Shepherd shows both the mistakes and triumphs of the past, which should inform more compassionate, dignified treatment of the mentally ill in the future. From fourteenth-century England to twentieth-century France, A History of Delusions examines the thin, blurry line between sanity and insanity.'* Foreword Reviews *

'In this bewitching debut, Shepherd adapts her BBC Radio 4 series of the same name, providing a delightfully strange account of delusions... Reminiscent of Oliver Sachs, Shepherd opts for empathy over prurience, highlighting the humanity of her subjects and lucidly drawing out the dream logic by which their delusions operate. This is a wondrous reminder of the intricacy and paradox of the human mind.'-- Publishers Weekly, Books of the Week

'Fascinating and bizarre, these thoughtful case studies serve as escape hatches into the past, revealing the historical preoccupations that may have given rise to these delusions.'* Publishers Weekly, Summer Reads 2022 *

'A humane and thoughtful account.'-- Washington Post

Author Biography: Victoria Shepherd conceived and produced the ten-part series A History of Delusions for BBC Radio 4. She has produced scores of documentaries and major strands for BBC Radio 4; she is also a writer, with an M.A. in creative writing from the University of East Anglia.