Walker Nigel Foreword (1 results)

Eigen, Joel Peter. Walker Nigel, Introduction. Witnessing Insanity. Madness and Mad-Doctors in the English Court. New Haven: Yale University Press, [1995]. xv, 240 pp. Publisher's maroon cloth with silver lettered cloth fine, in fine dust jacket. Internally clean and bright. $45. * A historical study by sociologist Joel Peter Eigen that examines the evolving relationship between the legal system, medical experts and the insanity defense in English courts between 1760 and 1843. It details how the legal system transitioned from relying on ordinary layperson testimony to adopting medicalized expertise from early psychiatrists, then known as "mad-doctors.".…