A captivating A-Z compendium of our fixations by the bestselling author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ALL BIBLIOMANIACS A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, SPECTATOR AND DAILY MAIL A WATERSTONES BEST POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK Plunge into this rich and thought-provoking A-Z compendium to discover how our fixations have taken shape, from the Middle Ages to the present day, as bestselling author Kate Summerscale deftly traces the threads between the past and present, the psychological and social, the personal and the political. 'Fascinating' Malcolm Gaskill, author of the No. 1 bestseller The Ruin of All Witches 'Fascinating' Observer 'An endlessly intriguing book ... All the bibliomanes (book nutters) I know will love it' Daily Mail

"Fascinating ... Summerscale uses the same talent for elaborating on psychological tics that made her non-fiction thriller The Suspicions Of Mr. Whicher a top bestseller" - Mail on Sunday

"This fascinating compendium traces phobias and manias through their rich social, cultural and medical history" - Observer

"An endlessly intriguing book" - Daily Mail

"Thought-provoking, eloquent and entertaining" - Fortean Times

"Amusing and oddly unsettling" - The Times

"We are all, in some way or other, plagued by fears and desires beyond our control ... Fascinating, beautifully written and thoroughly researched" - Irish Times

"A new book from Summerscale is always a treat. She does vast amounts of research, and then manages to let go of it, and take flight in prose that is both forensic and conversational ... Her sub-title - 'A History of the World in 99 Obsessions' - might echo Neil MacGregor, but this reads more like a book by Oliver Sacks, with dashes of Roald Dahl" - Spectator

"An intriguing guide to human fixations" - Guardian

"Fascinating... Exquisitely detailed and consistently insightful, this is an entertaining guide to humanity's compulsions" - Publishers Weekly

"99 hard-to-stop-reading histories ... from the familiar (homophobia) to surprising fears of eggs, hair, silence and everything (pantophobia)" - Chicago Tribune

"Informative, witty, and unique ... Summerscale, author of The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher and other well-regarded books, lists 99 fears and compulsions, and the result is a peculiarly engaging book" - Kirkus