Bethlem Hospital is the oldest mental institution in the world, but to many it is famous only as ‘Bedlam’, a chaotic madhouse that brutalised its patients. This book explores the 800-year history of Bethlem and reveals fascinating details of its ambivalent relationship with London and Londoners, the life and times of the hospital’s more famous patients, and the rise of a powerful reform movement which forced the government to take the issue of Bedlam seriously. Paul Chambers brings the whole story of Bethlem Hospital to a new audience, charting its well-intended beginnings to its final disgrace and reform.