A fascinating window into criminal minds, suffused with compassion.
A SUNDAY TIMES, NEW STATESMAN & IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

A SUNDAY TIMES, NEW STATESMAN & IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CRIME WRITERS ASSOCIATION GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

A perspective-shattering work into the minds of violent criminals that reveals profound consequences for human nature and society at large.

'Brilliant . . . The book is a powerful myth buster. Name a sterotype about violent offenders and Adshead upends it.'
SUNDAY TIMES

'Deeply moving . . . the most overwhelming feeling I had on finishing this book was of hope . . . Compassionate and fascinating.'
GUARDIAN

Dr Gwen Adshead is one of Britain's leading forensic psychiatrists. She treats serial killers, arsonists, stalkers, gang members and other individuals who are usually labelled 'monsters'. Whatever their crime, she listens to their stories and helps them to better understand their terrible acts of violence. Here Adshead invites the reader to step with her into the room to meet twelve patients and discover how minds can change. These men and women are revealed in all their complexity and shared humanity. Their stories make a powerful case for rehabilitation over revenge, compassion over condemnation. The Devil You Know will challenge everything you thought you knew about human nature.

'An unmissable book.' OBSERVER

'Adshead's compassion is almost as shocking as the offences themselves . . . it gives her distance and extraordinary insight.'
THE TIMES, Books of the Year

'The Devil You Know has permanently recalibrated my empathy dial.'
NEW STATESMAN, Books of the Year

'Deeply humane.'
IRISH TIMES, Books of the Year

'Exceptional.' VAL McDERMID
'Extraodinary.' SEBASTIAN FAULKS
'Gripping . . . ultimately enlightening.' PHILIPPE SANDS
'Fascinating and beautifully written.' CHRISTIE WATSONA SUNDAY TIMES, NEW STATESMAN & IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CRIME WRITERS ASSOCIATION GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

A perspective-shattering work into the minds of violent criminals that reveals profound consequences for human nature and society at large.

INCLUDES A NEW CHAPTER

'Brilliant . . . The book is a powerful myth buster. Name a sterotype about violent offenders and Adshead upends it.'
SUNDAY TIMES

'Deeply moving . . . the most overwhelming feeling I had on finishing this book was of hope . . . Compassionate and fascinating.'
GUARDIAN

Dr Gwen Adshead is one of Britain's leading forensic psychiatrists. She treats serial killers, arsonists, stalkers, gang members and other individuals who are usually labelled 'monsters'. Whatever their crime, she listens to their stories and helps them to better understand their terrible acts of violence. Here Adshead invites the reader to step with her into the room to meet twelve patients and discover how minds can change. These men and women are revealed in all their complexity and shared humanity. Their stories make a powerful case for rehabilitation over revenge, compassion over condemnation. The Devil You Know will challenge everything you thought you knew about human nature.

'An unmissable book.' OBSERVER

'Adshead's compassion is almost as shocking as the offences themselves . . . it gives her distance and extraordinary insight.'
THE TIMES, Books of the Year

'The Devil You Know has permanently recalibrated my empathy dial.'
NEW STATESMAN, Books of the Year

'Deeply humane.'
IRISH TIMES, Books of the Year

'Exceptional.' VAL McDERMID
'Extraodinary.' SEBASTIAN FAULKS
'Gripping . . . ultimately enlightening.' PHILIPPE SANDS
'Fascinating and beautifully written.' CHRISTIE WATSON

Autorentext
Dr. Gwen Adshead is a leading psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Alongside her continuing work at Broadmoor Hospital as a Consultant Forensic Psychotherapist, where she runs psychotherapuetic groups for offenders, she also works in a medium secure unit in Hampshire. Her first trade book, The Devil You Know, was published by Faber & Faber in 2021 and was co-written with Eileen Horne. She has published a number of academic books and over one hundred papers. She was honoured with the President's Medal for services to psychiatry in 2013. Eileen Horne is a writer and dramatist. She worked for twenty years as a television drama producer before gaining an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths College in 2012. She has been an editor, media lecturer and translator, and is the author of two non-fiction books and the scriptwriter of numerous BBC radio dramas.

Klappentext

As a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, you could say I am a student of evil. I see it as a performative term, like beauty it conveys judgement, rather than an objective truth about the subject. I have spent decades working with people who have caused horror and grief to others. The horror and the grief are part of their stories, but so is the theme of redemption. I will tell horror stories in this book, but I will also tell stories of change and recovery. It may surprise the reader that this is possible.In The Devil You Know, Dr. Gwen Adshead reminds us that before destroying another life, those reviled as monsters at Broadmoor

Zusammenfassung
This is a mythbuster of a book - crammed with compelling, constructive, candid and compassionate insights into the criminal mind. Val McDermid