THE AIR LOOM GANG, Mike Jay

Mike Jay
The Air Loom Gang
The Strange and True Story of James Tilly Matthews and His Visionary Madness

"Elegant … fascinating … a pertinent historical essay on justice and the mentally ill during times of terror and paranoia that resonates today at many levels." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Strange only begins to describe this bizarre story of a man who may be the first documented paranoid schizophrenic in psychiatric history.… But was Matthews mad? Read this fascinating account and be the judge." —Booklist (starred review)

"I have never seen the logic of madness, of a particular delusion, presented so clearly and convincingly. The Air Loom Gang is a wonderful book to read, combining exceptional scholarship and psychological insight with deep empathy for the tormented but always gentle and dignified Matthews. And it is beautifully written, with all the drama, the rich characterization, the subtlety, of a fine novel." —Oliver Sacks

In the best-selling tradition of A Beautiful Mind and The Professor and the Madman, here is a book of popular history that captures the atmosphere of a time and a place while telling a riveting true story of intrigue, obsession, and madness.

In the 1790s, London is the world's most populated city, the center of European culture, and perhaps the most dangerous place on earth. As Parisian society races out of control across the channel, the tension between England and France escalates like never before. The scent of war is in the air.

Enter James Tilly Matthews. A respected Welsh tea merchant, Matthews has declared his intent to preserve the fragile peace, going so far as to meet with top leaders from both sides, and even serving time as a political prisoner in Paris. But when Matthews stands up in the House of Commons and declares Lord Liverpool to be a traitor, he is arrested and sent to a mental hospital. Trapped within the walls of Bedlam, Matthews becomes convinced that his mind is being controlled by a secret machine called an "Air Loom" that is hidden in a London basement and run by a devious gang of revolutionaries.

Imprisoned without a trial, dismissed as a lunatic, and denied political rights, Matthews' story feels eerily contemporary. Was Matthews entirely crazy, or were British authorities simply trying to silence his accusations of treason? A page-turning piece of historical detective work, The Air Loom Gang sets out to separate fact from lunacy.

Mike Jay is the author of Emperors of Dreams: Drugs in the Nineteenth Century and Blue Tide: The Search for Soma. He is the editor of Artificial Paradises: A Drugs Reader, 1900: A Fin-de-Siècle Reader, and Underworld of the East. He lives in London.

$24.00 | 320 pages | hardcover | illustrated | ISBN 1-56858-297-8
History

Order this featured book
online at a discount from

Website design by JERRY ENGELBACH