This book taught me so much, I thought I might have a good grasp on mental health (MH) services and their interaction with politics, but the historical context was missing from my knowledge. This book presents a clear history of MH diagnosis, how the modern world creates MH challenges, and how successive British governments have created a system to perpetuate and blame social issues on the individual.

I have already loaned this book to two people. It is brilliant and accessible – pick it up.

The missing star is because of the way the author often leans towards anecdotal evidence. This is almost unavoidable in a mass-market non-fiction book, as you need emotional responses from an audience which may not be used to scientific data. As a scientist, I am used to picking apart scientific texts so probably noticed this way more than most.