Reviews for Business Administration

The average rating for Business Administration based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-05-15 00:00:00 Cameron Forbes Cutting edge treatments for mental ill health in the age of reason included cold baths, forced feeding and physical restraint (the straitjacket was the latest thing and used upon his majesty) all of which was inflicted on George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland etc etc during his repeated bouts of ill health during the latter part of his reign. George III had, despite the inconvenient loss of the American colonies, had reigned over a prosperous period of British history. Unlike his more exuberant predecessors and successors he had presented himself as a model paterfamilias, declined to avail himself of mistresses - shocking breach of the model monarchy devised by Louis XIV and had demonstrated an interest in agricultural improvements, and appeared to be a very respectable, indeed almost bourgeois monarch. Until the day when he started to speak continuously, eventually frothing at the mouth, and exhibited increasingly bizarre and extreme behaviours. Macalpine's book sets out the disturbing state of mental health care at the time and tells the story of the various treatments that the King was forced to endure - despite being King the use of violent force was authorised to restrain or punish him if his behaviour was judged to to be sufficiently inappropriate - as well as advancing the thesis that he may actually have suffered from the genetic condition Porphyria, though this is still a matter of controversy. George III's incapacity caused a political crisis resolved by making his heir Prince Regent. Unfortunately the Prince Regent's lifestyle choices including the excessive consumption of fine foods and wines led in turn to his own physical incapacity for periods of time. This invited the droll comment from the House of Commons that George III should act as regent for his regent. George III recovered from his first bout, only to succumb to subsequent bouts, each of which was further complicated by his declining health. One of George's sisters, Caroline Matilda was married to the even more insane King Christian VII of Denmark. There she had an affair with the King's doctor, Struensee, and scandalised Copenhagen by appearing in public with him wearing matching pairs of trousers. But that's another story.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-11-03 00:00:00 Renan Bernard The book describes GIII's major illnesses when his reason was affected (1788-9, 1801, 1804 and 1810ff) , arguing that he suffered from Porphyria, a chemical change in the body with pretty horrid symptoms. It was probably inherited via James I who seems likely to have died of it. George III's sister probably died of it too along with his grandaughter. There's evidence that some of his sons may have been sufferers too. His illness brought the treatment of mental illness to the fore in the public eye. The King was popular and there was great sympathy for him and his suffering. Numbers of madhouses increased dramatically on the wave of publicity following the King's illness and his apparent 'cure' by the Willises (father and son) who had their own madhouse. The King's treatment at their hands was pretty shocking. From his illness in 1810 until his death in 1820 he was kept in solitary confinement with little or no stimulation; small wonder therefore that he was barking in the end. A very sympathetically drawn portrait of the King which marked a reversal in the assessment of George III. Here he is seen as a substantially good man and a good King rather than the weak, obstinate man who couldn't handle the job and became insane.