Sunday Feature: The Many Diagnoses of Robert Schumann

Phil Hebblethwaite delves into the tragic death of Robert Schumann, who attempted suicide by casting himself into the Rhine in 1854, and died two years later, aged just 46. Schumann has been the focus of vast quantities of research conducted by psychiatrists. In tracing these many post-death diagnoses, a bigger story emerges - a history of psychiatry itself since the 1850s, as well as a portrait of political upheaval and changing social values. With readings by Oliver Soden