Are you frightened of clowns, spiders, or buttons? Award-winning author Kate Summerscale dives into the strange history of our fears and obsessions.
Our phobias and manias are contradictory and multiple: deeply intimate, yet forged by the times we live in. Discover how our fixations have taken shape, as the bestselling author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Kate Summerscale, deftly traces the threads between the past and present, the psychological and social, the personal and the political.
Praise for Kate Summerscale’s The Book of Phobias and Manias:
‘Fascinating … Phobias and manias create a magical space between us and the world’ Malcolm Gaskill, author of the No 1 bestseller, The Ruin of All Witches
‘A new book from Summerscale is always a treat … Her sub-title might echo Neil MacGregor, but this reads more like a book by Oliver Sacks, with dashes of Roald Dahl’ Spectator
