John Foot is Professor of Modern Italian History in the School of Modern Languages, University of Bristol. He has published several books on sports and contemporary Italian history. He writes a blog for the Italian magazine Internazionale and has written for the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday, the Times Literary Supplement, the London Review of Books, and History Today. He was Coeditor of the journal Modern Italy between 2010 and 2014.
Peopled by a cast of extraordinary characters - patients, colleagues, friends and enemies - revolving around the charismatic and now legendary psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, John Foot's sympathetic account de-mythologises the reform by uncovering little-known precedents, distancing Basaglia from anti-psychiatry and situating his work within Italian radical politics of the late 1960s. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in psychiatric reform. - Howard Caygill, author of On Resistance The anti-asylum movement in 1960s and '70s Italy forms one of the most fascinating episodes in western psychiatry. John Foot's richly documented and revealing study of this movement and its pioneer figure, the charismatic radical psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, adds immeasurably to our understanding of the troubled history of mental health care in modern times. - Barbara Taylor, author of The Last Asylum A brilliant historical reconstruction of the work and ideas of one of the world's leading exponents of critical psychiatry. - David Forgacs, author of Italy's Margins Foot's impassioned story reminds us that the future is neither immutable nor ordained, and that small groups of people in peripheral places can change history. Nature It is fashionable in some quarters to laugh at the radical left of the 1960s. The Man Who Closed the Asylums feels refreshing in that regard - as a portrait of imperfect people who had the passion and pragmatism to put an end to a brutal and broken system. Financial Times A scholar steeped in the twists and turns of Italian history of the 20th century...Foot has made wonderful use of [the materials of the Basaglia archive] ...exploring them through the lens of the politics and fractured nature of the country itself. Helen Bynum, Times Higher Education In Italy, the literature on Basaglia tends towards either idealisation or demonisation - he's considered either a secular saint or a dangerous radical. John Foot gives a much more rounded, and fair, portrait of a complicated, committed man. Tobias Jones, Guardian However strong the spirit of 1968, it will not eradicate the institutional impulse from human societies. First Things An excellent book Frugal Creativity Brings this diversity, richness and complexity to life in an exemplary fashion, illuminating all its different manifestations and contradictions... A triumph of committed scholarship Paul Gordon, TLS