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The Book of Phobias and Manias

A History of the World in 99 Obsessions

Kate Summerscale

Description

Do you recoil in arachnophobic horror at the sight of a spider – or twitch with nomophobia when you misplace your mobile phone? Do your book-buying habits verge on bibliomania? Perhaps you find yourself mired in indecision and uncertainty? Would it be reassuring to give this a name: aboulomania?

Our phobias and manias are contradictory and multiple: deeply intimate, yet forged by the times we live in – the commonest form of anxiety disorder, but rarely given a formal diagnosis. Plunge into this rich, surprising and fascinating A–Z compendium to discover how our fixations have taken shape, from pre-history to the present day, as Kate Summerscale deftly traces the threads between the past and present, the psychological and social, the personal and the political.