Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

Michel Foucault's most admired book is an incisive history of changing attitudes toward mental illness of Western Europe between 1500 and 1800.

Madness and Civilization investigates the archeology of madness, tracing shifting perceptions through changes in the culture, laws, politics, philosophy, and medical practices of the West. In the late Middle Ages, insanity was still considered part of everyday life and people who were commonly labeled fools and lunatics walked the streets freely. It was only later on, when such people began to be considered a threat, that asylums were first built and walls were erected between the "insane" and the rest of humanity. For those fascinated by the evolution of mental health and its impact on society both in the past and now, Madness and Civilization is an illuminating and indispensable read.

Michel Foucault was born in Poitiers, France, in 1926. He lecturerd in universities throughout the world; served as director at the Institut Francais in Hamburg, Germany and at the Institut de Philosophi at the Faculte des Lettres in the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France; and wrote frequently for French newspapers and reviews. At the time of his death in 1984, he held a chair at France's most prestigious institutions, the College de France.