Murders and Madness

'Harris has written a useful, compendious, suggestive, often sensitive book.' Times Literary Supplement 'the book's painstaking analysis of dozens of cases from the Paris courts over the period 1880 to 1910 gives it an authoritative tone that will not easily be challenged' Edward Shorter, University of Toronto, Medical History 'Harris pushes beyond an analysis of existing scholarship to mine a rich vein of relevant but little-used primary source material: the official dossiers and records of murder cases at the Assizes court in Paris during the period from 1880 to 1910 ... Harris has written a fascinating and valuable book.' Edward J. Larson, University of Georgia, Journal of the British Society for the History of Science 'a meticulously researched study of medico-legal debates in nineteenth-century France' History Workshop Journal 'From this work one gains useful insights into the workings of the French legal system. This information is valuable and marks another step in the evolution of a Foucault-influenced historiography.' Sharif Gemie, Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, Modern & Contemporary France, No.42 Oct '90 'an intelligent and well-researched study' British Journal of Criminology, Vol.30, No.4 Autumn '90 'This is a book of serious scholarship whose concentration of detail and frequently changing units of analysis demands discipline and concentration from it readers. Murder and Madness is an impressive achievement by any standard; an example, in my view, of social history of medicine at its scholarly best.' Anne Harrington, Harvard University, Social History of Medicine, Volume 3, Number 3, December 1990 `Harris's impressive ability to expound complex psychological, physiological and medicolegal debates makes this a fascinating monograph. She has a firm grasp of social history and offers a convincing analysis of the changing status of the medical profession.' History 'elegantly researched and richly textured book ... this remains throughout a stimulating and imaginative book that should command the attention of cultural, social, and gender historians as well as historians of science and medicine.' Jan Goldstein, University of Chiacgo, American Historical Review, December 1991