Mark Stevens (3)

While this is just a cursory glance at Broadmoor lunatic asylum patients, this is still a fascinating read. Dr. Miner is included, but of course his life and involvement with OED is better detailed in its own book. Here we have details on would-be assassins, mother infanticides, a chronology of detailed escapes, and the birth and fate of various babies born at Broadmoor. A good history of the "pleasure men" and "pleasure women" found criminally insane and held by the crown until the show more majesty's "pleasure" be known. show less

My first ever Kindle read – and what a cracking one! I love books that deal with social history and I love the Victorian period so what’s not to love! Stevens writes about cases using Broadmoor’s archive. Cases include those of Victorian artist Richard Dabb and ‘the chocolate poisoner’, Christiana Edmunds.

Dabb was featured on a programme Jeremy Paxman did on BBC1 a few years ago called 'The Victorians' about artists and art of that period, which was an excellent series, so it was show more nice to read a bit more about him. Dadd, thought now to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, murdered his father and fled to France, where he was quickly captured. He remained institutionalised for the remainder of his life.

Christiana Edmunds turned poisoner after the married doctor she was having a relationship with broke off that relationship – first she tried poisoning the doctor’s wife and then began buying chocolates from a shop in Brighton where she lived, lacing them with poison and then returning them as ‘unwanted’. They were then bought by unsuspecting members of the public. She was eventually discovered and she, like Dadd, spent the rest of her life locked up.

The book also explores other lesser-known, but equally interesting cases, and also examines women in the asylum and various escape bids. Thoroughly interesting and really recommended. It is currently only available for download – over Christmas it was one of the most downloaded titles from Amazon, which might mean Stevens gets a paper deal – he certainly deserves one! show less

I was absolutely fascinated by some of the stories in this book. Most of the time when you think of Lunatic Asylums in the Victorian Age you think of corrupt doctors and horrible living conditions, however this book gives the reader a glimpse into what it really was like. I enjoyed the stories in the beginning about certain patients. I liked reading about their crimes and how they got to Broadmoor and what eventually happened to them. I also enjoyed reading about the babies born in show more Broadmoor. I do have to say that there was way too much written about escape attempts and successful escapes. The part about escapes just seemed to drag on and on. Personally I would have only really wanted to hear about the successful escapes. Overall I thought this was a great glimpse inside of Broadmoor. I would recommend this to others. show less

As one could deduce from the page count, Mark Stevens' Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum is only a brief glimpse into one of England's Victorian-era asylums. Idyllic in setting and home to as many sane criminals as deranged artists, Broadmoor is an interesting subject for study, but by no means unique. Although a number of crimes are discussed in relation to the patients, what I found most interesting were the details of the escapes attempts, and how the Board show more responded - or failed to, as was frequently the case. Although I would have preferred greater depth, Broadmoor Revealed is a nice snack for those interested in Victorian crime or mental institutions. show less