Madness in the City of Magnificent Intentions
A History of Race and Mental Illness in the Nation's Capital
Martin Summers
Reviews and Awards
"Summers does a masterful job of analyzing the importance of race on multiple, interconnected levels." -- Michael Rembis, Journal of African American History
"There are few asylum histories that grapple with race as thoroughly and thoughtfully as this one does, making it essential reading for historians of psychiatry. General readers who want to understand how and why disparities have undermined the treatment of the mentally ill in the USA will also be richly rewarded." -- Wendy Gonaver, History of Psychiatry
"In this long and detailed but eloquently written history, Summers' demonstrates the multiple ways that psychiatry has been complicit in the creation of race as a category based on difference, and the lingering effects of racist psychiatric practices. The meticulous research, and the important centering of the Black experience, make this book a must-read for all students of race, medicine, and the behavioral sciences." -- Kylie Smith, Journal of the History of Behavorial Sciences
"A monumental achievement that should receive wide readership in a number of fields beyond the history of medicine and asylums." -- Michael Rembis, The Journal of African American History
"Madness in the City of Magnificent Intentions is carefully researched, richly sourced, and deeply nuanced." -- Sarah HandleyCousins, University at Buffalo, The Journal of Southern History, volume 87, number 4
"Martin Summers's book Madness in the City of Magnificent Intentions: A History of Race and Mental Illness in the Nation's Capital is an impressively -- and successfully -- ambitious examination of race and psychiatry ... Madness in the City of Magnificent Intentions is carefully researched, richly sourced and deeply nuanced." -- Sarah Handley-Cousins, Journal of Southern History
"Madness benefits from this extensive primary source material." -- John Deferrari, Washington History
"Historians, mental health professionals, and those interested in connections between psychology, politics, race, and economics are indebted to Summers for uncovering several missing pieces in the puzzling landscape of social injustice." -- Debra Kram-Fernandez, The Metropole
"This should serve as a model for scholarship on race and medicine." -- Dennis Doyle, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Social History of Medicine