xxii, 473 pages : 24 cm, Looks at twelve instances of contested insanity in Victorian England, examining cases in which doubtfully mentally ill patients were committed to asylums according to new "scientific" standards by relatives who stood to benefit from their being put away, Includes bibliographical references (pages 439-447) and index, Being 'burrowsed' -- The attorney-general of all Her Majesty's madmen -- The Alleged Lunatics' Friend Society -- 'Oh hail, holy love!' -- 'If I had been poor, they would have left me alone' -- 'Gaskell is single-patient hunting' -- The woman in yellow -- Juries in revolt -- Dialoguing with the unseen -- 'Be sure you don't fall, Georgie!' -- Epilogue : the savage new century