{"product_id":"the-lobotomist-9780470098301","title":"The Lobotomist","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Lobotomist\u003c\/i\u003e explores one of the darkest chapters of American medicine: the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, M.D., who saw a solution in lobotomy, a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. Drawing on Freeman's documents and interviews with Freeman''s family, Jack El-Hai takes a penetrating look at the life and work of this complex scientific genius.  \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Lobotomist\u003c\/i\u003e explores one of the darkest chapters of American medicine: the desperate attempt to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Into this crisis stepped Walter Freeman, M.D., who saw a solution in lobotomy, a brain operation intended to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. Although many patients did not benefit from the thousands of lobotomi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWalter Freeman believed that \"the despair of psychiatric illness demanded a decisive, drastic remedy.\" And that remedy was lobotomy, \"cutting the neural connections in the prefrontal regions of the brain,\" a practice that these days, writes Jack El-Hai in \u003ci\u003eThe Lobotomist\u003c\/i\u003e, \"seems so obviously wrong.\" Freeman performed nearly 3,500 lobotomies and \"aside from the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele . . . ranks as the most scorned physician of the twentieth century.\" And yet, \"many of the era's most important medical figures . . . lent support to Freeman's work.\" Nor did he intend to cause harm. \"I had to recognize,\" writes El-Hai, \"the persuasive evidence that at times he acted in the best interests of his lobotomy patients, given the limitation of the medical environment in which he worked and the perilous nature of scientific innovation.\" (\u003ci\u003eWashington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e, March 18, 2007)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrologue 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 September 1936 7\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 Rittenhouse Square 16\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 The Education of a Lobotomist 33\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 In the Hospital Wards 56\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 A Perfect Partner 83\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 Refining Lobotomy 111\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 The Lines of Battle 134\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 Advance and Retreat 157\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 Waterfall 178\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 Fame 207\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 Road Warrior 236\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 Leaving Home 257\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e13 Decline 284\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 Ghost 305\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments 313\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotes 316\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBibliography 349\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 355\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Wiley \u0026 Sons Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48864623427927,"sku":"9780470098301","price":14.4,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780470098301.jpg?v=1722272777","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-lobotomist-9780470098301","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}