The book describes two experiences of life within a large English psychiatric hospitalthe first as a patient and the second as a member of staff; the first in the 1950s, before these hospitals opened their gates, the second at the end of their lives, when their main task was rehabilitation rather than incarnation. The author compares these two situations, focusing on the last gasps of institutional life, as seen from the point of view of the hospital chaplain.

The book describes two experiences of life within a large English psychiatric hospitalthe first as a patient and the second as a member of staff; the first in the 1950s, before these hospitals opened their gates, the second at the end of their lives, when their main task was rehabilitation rather than incarnation. The author compares these two situations, focusing on the last gasps of institutional life, as seen from the point of view of the hospital chaplain.