Traumatic Pasts
History, Psychiatry, and Trauma in the Modern Age, 1870-1930
Published on 1. April 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-0-521-14208-3 (ISBN)
Description
Traumatic Pasts, originally published in 2001, offers a variety of perspectives on mental trauma in war, medicine, culture and society in modern European and American history. Its primary goals are: to provide a generous sampling of the best of the historical scholarship about trauma; to indicate the empirical, analytical and methodological scope of this work; and to present some of the conceptual and methodological issues inherent in writing about the subject. The book operates on the premise that the historical humanities have something crucially important to say about trauma; its essays may be read, in part, as attempts to introduce a deep historical dimension into ongoing debates and controversies. However, it is important to stress that these essays are not simply addressed the concerns; rather, they reflect a shared conviction that trauma opens up fresh perspectives in the study of social and cultural history.
Reviews / Votes
Review of the hardback: 'The introductory essay should be compulsory reading for anyone interested in the history of trauma within psychiatry. The book represents a successful fusion of cultural history and the history of ideas, and promises to intrigue historians and other readers for many years to come.' Joanna Bourke, History Today Review of the hardback: 'Each of the essays in this collection is a gem.' British Medical Journal Review of the hardback: '... makes for a fascinating read ... there is a depth of analysis that is refreshing ... the introductory essay should be compulsory reading for anyone interested in the history of trauma within psychiatry. the book represents a successful fusion of cultural history and the history of ideas, and promises to intrigue historians and other readers for many years to come.' History Today Review of the hardback: '... it succeeds in providing a considerably more nuanced examination of the history of trauma, with an important comparative dimension.' The Times Literary Supplement Review of the hardback: ' ... with the publication of Traumatic Pasts the historical study of trauma can be said to have achieved intellectual maturity. ... detailed and thoughful essays add new dimensions to our understanding of trauma, past and present, and provide important guidelines for future research.' History Workshop Journal Review of the hardback: 'In its balanced tone, careful documentation, and attentiveness to gender, class and culture, this ... is a model for scholars of trauma in many disciplines.' German History Review of the hardback: '... an exemplary introduction, in which the intellectual lineage of post-traumatic stress disorder is fully set out.' Social History of Medicine Review of the hardback: ' ... this is a welcome and valuable book which adds significantly to our knowledge.' Medical History Review of the hardback: '... this book represents a good example of the potential of comparative studies to cast fresh light on what may seem a familiar subject. Especially striking are the insights it reveals into the contrasting French and American responses to traumatized soldiers during the First world War.' Annals of Science Review of the hardback: 'The book's primary goals are to provide a generous sample of the best new historical scholarship on trauma; to indicate the empirical, analytical, and methodological scope of this work; and to present some of the conceptual and methodological issues inherent in writing about the subject ... All these goals are achieved in a readable style which ... will appeal to a general readership beyond trauma experts.' German Historical Institute BulletinMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
547 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-14208-3 (9780521142083)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
Contributors; Preface; 1. Trauma, psychiatry, and history: a conceptual and historiographical introduction Paul Lerner and Mark S. Micale; Part I. Travel and Trauma in the Victorian Era: 2. The railway accident: trains, trauma, and technological crisis in nineteenth-century Britain Ralph Harrington; 3. Trains and trauma in the American gilded age Eric Caplan; Part II. Work, Accidents, and Trauma in the Early Welfare State: 4. Events, series, trauma: the probabilistic revolution of the mind in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Wolfgang Schaeffner; 5. The German welfare state as a discourse of trauma Greg A. Eghigian; Part III. Theorizing Trauma: Psychiatry and Modernity at the Turn of the Century: 6. Jean-Martin Charcot and les nevroses traumatiques: from medicine to culture in French trauma theory of the late nineteenth century Mark S. Micale; 7. From traumatic neurosis to male hysteria: the decline and fall of Hermann Oppenheim, 1889-1919 Paul Lerner; 8. The construction of female sexual trauma in turn-of-the-century American mental medicine Lisa Cardyn; Part IV. Shock, Trauma, and Psychiatry in the First World War: 9. 'Why are they not cured?' British shellshock treatment during the Great War Peter Leese; 10. Psychiatrists, soldiers, and officers in Italy during the Great War Bruna Bianchi; 11. A Battle of Nerves: hysteria and its treatments in France during World War I Marc Roudebush; 13. Invisible wounds: the American legion, shell-shocked veterans, and American society, 1919-1924 Caroline Cox; Index.