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Book Synopsis
From Beethoven to Oscar Wilde, from Van Gogh to Hitler, Deborah Hayden throws new light on the effects of syphilis on the lives and works of seminal figures from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries.Writing with remarkable insight and narrative flair, Hayden argues that biographers and historians have vastly underestimated the influence of what Thomas Mann called this exhilarating yet wasting disease. Shrouded in secrecy, syphilis was accompanied by wild euphoria and suicidal depression, megalomania and paranoia, profoundly affecting sufferers'' worldview, their sexual behaviour, and their art. Deeply informed and courageously argued, Pox has been heralded as a major contribution to our understanding of genius, madness, and creativity.

Pox Genius Madness and the Mysteries of Syphilis

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    A Paperback by Deborah Hayden

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      Publisher: Basic Books
      Publication Date: 12/25/2003 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN13: 9780465028825, 978-0465028825
      ISBN10: 0465028829
      Also in:
      History of medicine Medicine / Healthcare: general issues / topics

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      From Beethoven to Oscar Wilde, from Van Gogh to Hitler, Deborah Hayden throws new light on the effects of syphilis on the lives and works of seminal figures from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries.Writing with remarkable insight and narrative flair, Hayden argues that biographers and historians have vastly underestimated the influence of what Thomas Mann called this exhilarating yet wasting disease. Shrouded in secrecy, syphilis was accompanied by wild euphoria and suicidal depression, megalomania and paranoia, profoundly affecting sufferers'' worldview, their sexual behaviour, and their art. Deeply informed and courageously argued, Pox has been heralded as a major contribution to our understanding of genius, madness, and creativity.

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