Damn History #83 | October 2024

In history, context is everything. Twenty years ago, when I began researching my book The Lobotomist, I started with an impression that lobotomy was an abominable procedure without medical justification. My research soon made it clear to me, however, that psychosurgery appeared when patients and physicians were desperate to find effective treatments for mental illnesses, thus making experimental procedures like lobotomy seem like worthwhile risks.

In addition, some medical research in the mid-twentieth century supported the effectiveness of lobotomy. An evaluation of 600 lobotomy patients published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1951, for example, asserted that “the operation is therapeutically active, and is useful and practicable.” Later studies contradicted these conclusions.

In the context of its time, lobotomy seemed helpful and sensible to many people. You cannot understand the rise and fall of lobotomy without understanding that context. As readers and writers of popular history, let’s remember we might lack the context to view past events as our predecessors saw them.

Here in Damn History you'll find, as usual, recommendations on good and popularly accessible historical reading, with tips on writing and updates on my own work.

 — Jack El-Hai

Follow me on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Jack_ElHai

Contact me at [email protected]

Personal Notes

Hear me in this podcast episode talking about lobotomies, from the BBC’s series The Human Subject.

Can your article, story, essay or book become a movie or TV series? My 30-minute webinar is now available for free viewing on YouTube.

For a bountiful collection of my popular-history book, audiobook, article, documentary, and podcast recommendations, search X (formerly known as Twitter) for the hashtag #popularhistory.

Recent Popular History from All Over

You may find some of these articles behind a paywall if you’ve exceeded the publisher’s allowance of free views.

Now a piece of history, the late Ofra Bikel’s documentary The Plea (2004) remains powerful and unforgettable.

A home movie, recently resurfaced, captures the chaotic scene at JFK’s assassination.

At death, a woman made a request for her surviving beloved pets: “She desired that they might be gently chloroformed.”

A British prime minister’s debut novel was branded “abusive, shocking and disgraceful.”

The Keeper of Donnington Castle in the UK was a horrible person.

This courtroom reporter was “a master of the concise opening paragraph.”

In a sobering historical investigation, we get an accounting of land stolen from the formerly enslaved.

America’s longstanding tyranny of the penny.

The disclosure of a dark secret uncovers the Nazi of Oak Park.

Ray Bradbury’s work on a screenplay of Moby Dick turned into a nightmare.

It took 85 years to correct the misspelling of a famed literary family’s name at Westminster Abbey.

Resources

“The audience comes last. I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me.” When writing truly for yourself is the best thing you can do for your audience.

Ukrainian Research Institute director Serhii Plokhii finds it dangerous to write about history.

For handy reference, see the 365 most famous quotes of all time – in 27 categories and backed by data and sources.

Meet fifteen authors who started as librarians.

Beware of overseas scammers posing as literary agents.

Learn about a writer and book author who has built an unusual career in history.

Read expert advice on researching historical fiction.

Get into the habit of traversing the world’s vast landscape of forgotten books.

“When we are not sure, we are alive.” – Graham Greene

Housekeeping

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About me: I'm a writer whose beat is history. I've contributed hundreds of articles to such publications as Smithsonian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post Magazine, Wired, Scientific American, Discover, GQ, Longreads.com, and many others. My books include The Lost Brothers: A Family’s Decades-Long Search, The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness, Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines, and The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Goering, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WW2. I often give presentations to groups of writers, readers, and others.

Please feel free to get in touch.