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Lunbeck chronicles the development of modern psychiatry through a detailed examination of case records of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital between roughly 1910 and 1920. During these early years of the 20th century, psychiatrists self-consciously redefined their professional roles from asylum-bound caretakers of the insane to hospital and clinic practitioners and facilitators of psychological adjustment to everyday life. The development and definition of psychiatric social work as a profession and the tensions between social workers and psychiatrists is also highlighted. The strength of this work is in the richness of the case material that Lunbeck presents, particularly the presentation of hysteria and hypersexuality in women and the discussion of the treatment of marital discord. The influence of gender, race, class, and ethnic group on diagnosis and treatment is discussed, although a more extensive analysis of racial and ethnic influences would have been desirable. In taking this intensive local approach, Lunbeck does not clearly indicate whether the Boston Psychopathic Hospital was typical, revolutionary, or conservative. A better use of secondary sources to provide context for this analysis would have broadened its appeal. Upper-division undergraduate through professional. K. S. Milar; Earlham College