Description
The Book of Phobias and Manias by Kate Summerscale is a cultural and psychological history exploring a wide range of human fears and compulsions across time.
The book examines 99 different phobias and manias, from rare conditions to more commonly experienced anxieties, using historical case studies and narrative examples. Summerscale traces how these psychological patterns have been understood and recorded from the Middle Ages through to the modern era, linking individual experiences to broader cultural and social histories.
Blending psychology, history, and narrative non-fiction, the work investigates how obsessive fears and desires shape human behaviour and reflect deeper aspects of society and identity.
