H.C. Erik Midelfort, A History of Madness in 16th-Century Germany

This well-written book offers more than just a discussion of one type of deviance called madness. In dealing with all conceivable phenomena somehow connected to mental disturbance, it touches on almost every aspect of socio-cultural history. Thus, we get an in-depth discussion of the St. Vitus dancing mania, of which even contemporaries were not sure whether it served as a cure for disturbed people's ailments or it was a part of their problem. Midelfort's elaborate analysis of the ideas of Pa..