We are all, one way or another, plagued by fears and desires beyond our control. From aboulomania (being sized with indecision) to mythomania(the compulsion to lie), glossphobia (fear of public speaking) to xylophobia (fear of forrests), the stories of our phobias and manias reveal how we have sought to understand ourselves. Plunge into this rich and thought-provoking A-Z compendium to discover how our fixations have taken shape, from the Middle Ages to the present day, as bestselling author Kate Summerscale deftly traces the threads between the past and present, the psychological and social, the personal and the political.
