Those They Called Idiots traces the little-known lives of people with learning disabilities from the communities of eighteenth-century England to the nineteenth-century asylum and care in today’s society. Using evidence from civil and criminal court-rooms, joke books, slang dictionaries, novels, art and caricature, it explores the explosive intermingling of ideas about intelligence and race, while bringing into sharp focus the lives of people often seen as the most marginalized in society.
'Magisterial . . . Jarrett celebrates the success of the “great release” of people with learning disabilities from long incarceration.' ≠– Michael Fitzpatrick, Daily Telegraph
'A remarkable history of mental disability in England . . . This important book should be read widely by experts and non-experts alike.' – Social History of Medicine
'Meticulously researched and well written, the book highlights a section of society that has always been present, but has received scant attention before now. The author has worked with people with learning disabilities for many years, and his empathy for them shines through.' – Who Do You Think You Are? magazine
'A stunning book . . . Simon Jarrett is a talented historian who writes beautifully . . . we are gradually discovering the value of disability history to give new ways of thinking about the past.' – Disability and Society
'For sheer readability, Simon Jarrett has few peers in the burgeoning field popularly known as the Medical Humanities.' – Metapsychology
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