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The author, chief physician of the state hospital at Regensburg, gives a survey of the treatment of psychiatric patients from old times to the present day. The book is intended for nonmedical as well as medical readers. In clear language and with well chosen concrete examples is sketched the historical development of hospital care of patients with mental disease. Although the material is not the product of any new researches, but is based on standard works on the subject, it is presented in an original and most satisfactory manner. In the last part of the book a description of some modern state hospitals is given, and the methods of treatment are outlined. Occupational therapy takes a prominent place. This book fulfils excellently the task of explaining to the layman what a state hospital stands for. The psychiatrist, too, will find here a historical survey which makes interesting reading. The numerous