Jane Ridley

Suspension of disbelief

Wendy Moore tells the sad story of Dr John Elliotson, whose obsession with hypnotism led to his disgrace and downfall

issue 06 May 2017

  • The Mesmerist: The Society Doctor Who Held Victorian London Spellbound

    Wendy Moore

    Weidenfeld, pp. 334

The history of modern medicine is a roll call of brilliant minds making breakthrough discoveries. We rarely hear about the losers, but Wendy Moore has chosen to write the extraordinary story of a massive medical fiasco: the craze for mesmerism which gripped Victorian London in 1838.

The practice of using the ancient technique of hypnosis for medical purposes takes its name from the 18th-century German physician Franz Mesmer.

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