From the back cover: TAINT OF MADNESS is a long source book discussing the recognizable forms of insanity, the historical treatment of the insane, how the mad or the incompetent are handled, and what the legal complications of being classified insane may portend. Plenty of game-related information and suggestions are made. The Cthulhu sanity rules are modified. There are three fully-developed asylums (Bethlehem for the 1890s, Arkham Sanitarium for the 1920s, and Bellevue for the 1990s), as well as a short scenario for each. Background information includes notes for conducting psychiatric interviews, sample commitment and release papers, a glossary of psychiatric terms corrected for the era, extensive information concerning historical asylums in the U.S. and across the globe, an annotated bibliography, and plenty of illustrations. Indexed.