Additional Author Johnson E. Fairchild. A Compilation Of Facts Concerning Their Population, Physical Geography, Resources, Industries, Trade, Government, And Strategic Importance.

More people die by suicide each year than by homicide, wars, and terrorist attacks combined. Witnesses and survivors are left perplexed and troubled. Doctors, clinical psychologists, and social workers try to deal with it through their professional routines; sociologists and psychiatrists attempt to provide theoretical explanations of it. In a study of nearly 7000 suicides from 1900 to 1950 in New Zealand and Queensland, Australia, John Weaver documents the challenges that ordinary people experienced during turbulent times and, using witnesses' testimony, death bed statements, and suicide notes, reconstructs individuals' thoughts as they decide whether to endure their suffering. Bridging social and medical history, Weaver presents an intellectual and political history of suicide studies, a revealing construction and deconstruction of suicide rates, a discussion of gender, life stages, and socio-economic circumstances in relation to suicide patterns, reflections on reasoning processes and intent, and society's reactions to suicide, including medical intervention. A Sadly Troubled History marshals thousands of suicide inquests, replete with observations on the anxieties of unemployment, the heartbreak of romantic disappointment, the pain of domestic turmoil, and the torments of mental illness, to demonstrate that history - although, like biochemistry, sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, reliant on remarkable yet imperfect information - can contribute to a better understanding of the suicidal act and its motives.

Using Hamilton, Ontario, as his model, Weaver makes extensive use of newspaper accounts and police, court, and jail records in a revealing exploration of individual crime cases and overall trends in crime. Tracing the origin and evolution of courts, juries, police, and punishments, Weaver takes into account various social and cultural issues. For example, he shows how increasing centralization and professionalization of the criminal justice system and police have deprived communities of input, and how the legal system continues to be male dominated and biased against newcomers, strangers, and marginalized social groups. Often critical of the "state," Weaver paints a sympathetic view of police constables, who play an ambiguous role in the community while being saddled with an expanding array of onerous duties. Crimes, Constables, and Courts is history at its best - informative, entertaining, and accessible with a lively human element woven throughout. "Truly outstanding." Rod C. Macleod, Department of History, University of Alberta.