For centuries forced confinement, cruel ‘cures’, political repression and ritualized personal degradation have all been rationalized and justified by appeals to the dogmas of psychiatry. Originally published in 1973 this book, written by one of the twentieth century’s most respected yet controversial psychiatrists, presents a clear picture of the origin and development of modern attitudes toward involuntary psychiatric interventions. The materials Thomas S. Szasz has collected span three centuries and several continents and include works which had never before been translated into English. The result is a thought-provoking mixture of psychiatric history, medical politics, literature and social science. Among the views represented are those of Daniel Defoe, Anton Chekhov, Jack London, James Thurber, Sylvia Plath and Erving Goffman.