Book Review: Mad in America

        Although this book may not be specifically steampunk or even Victorian, it does give one of the best looks I've found of mental health and treatment in the Victorian era. This book gives you a glimpse of different types of treatments used on the mentally ill throughout history starting in colonial America. It is a must read for anyone interested in victorian era medicine and science. It can be quite gruesome at times looking at some of the practices that were used in the Victorian era and even into more recent history but it is very important knowledge for understanding how our mental health system has gotten to were it is today. This deffinately isn't an uplifting book by any means and will leave you questioning even modern medical practices in the mental health system. A big part of steampunk to me has always been fighting oppression. The mentally ill are a group in modern society that are still oppressed in many ways and are often forced into dangerous treatment against their will, especially in the case of mentally ill children. Many people in the victorian era tried to hide any trace of mental illness in there family tree, many people still do this today. I recomend everyone reads this book so we can help end this modern day oppression and finally move out of the dark ages when it comes to mental health.