Books choice

Emma Townshend (Frances Lincoln, £8.99) Charles Darwin was a superb observational naturalist whose meticulous observations underpinned his conclusions about the evolution of all earth’s creatures. He was a dog-lover all his life and by watching his dogs closely, became convinced that they showed much of the same behaviour as humans, and indeed shared a common ancestor back in the mists of time. He was interested in the selective breeding of dogs and speculated on their domestication from the wolf. We now know that selection produced two closely related species, the wolf and the domestic dog, from a now-extinct common ancestor. The average difference in the genomes of dogs and wolves is about one per cent.

This book tells of Darwin’s domestic arrangements as well as his scientific work and achievements. It is very readable and has many delightful illustrations, including lots of etchings of dogs.

Bedlam

Catharine Arnold (Pocket Books £7.99) This thought-provoking book charts the history of the Bethlehem Hospital for the insane from its foundation in 1247 and its various moves to locations around London, ending up in Victorian Lambeth in the building which is now the Imperial War Museum. More interestingly, it also describes in detail how the treatment of madness improved over the centuries, from the initially barbaric and voyeuristic to the more enlightened and humane later approaches. Not much of the treatment was ever informed by scientific observations of what actually worked. Mistakes were made by well-meaning people and by unscrupulous charlatans alike, and the case studies described are fascinating and at times horrifying. The author has researched the topic thoroughly and has produced an absorbing book.