Description

Ever been struck dumb when speaking in public You might be suffering from glossophobia Do your bookbuying habits verge on bibliomania Do you recoil in arachnophobic horror at the sight of a spider or twitch with nomophobia when you misplace your mobile phone

Our fears and compulsions often feel like part of our deepest selves yet theyre bound up in the currents of the world around us This thrilling compendium of 99 phobias and manias rare and familiar delves into the obsessions that shape us all Awardwinning author Kate Summerscale takes us from the Middle Ages to the present day using rich and riveting case studies to trace the links between the private and the public the
personal and the political