This readable text presents the long-awaited first comprehensive history of the Royal College of Psychiatrists as an organisation, from its creation as the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane in 1841, its development through various name changes and the receipt of two charters, to become the present Royal College as we know it today. As a former President of the College from 1984-7, Dr Bewley also gives an overview of the fascinating developments in British psychiatry and its sub-specialties over the past two centuries. Further, more specific activities are also detailed, such as the formation of the research unit, the College publishing programme of journals and books, and the growth in facilities now provided including the library and information service. The book contains a collection of photographs in a glossy centre section.