Nineteenth century psychiatric hospitals in the United States were engineered to cure those afflicted with "madness" and instill the public's confidence in their ability to untangle the mysteries of mental illness. Within a hundred years, they became hollow apparitions that haunted the hilltops and memories of those who lived and worked there. Etched into their façades, faded and disfigured from decades of neglect, were the hopes and aspirations of those who sought to cure mental illness using specialized architecture and theories of moral treatment.

Crumbling Castles explores these massive public institutions built by the state. Using historical writeups, floor plans and photographs, the books chronicle the hospitals' well-intentioned beginnings and their eventual fall from grace into neglect and decay. The author then leads us into the darkness to discover what remains behind the locked doors of these shuttered facilities, which few have seen.

The Lost Asylums at Taunton and Northampton is a 96-page book focused on the Commonwealth's first two psychiatric hospitals to use the linear (Kirkbride) plan. These early hospitals were established to cure insanity using architecture, compassion and regimentation. The Lost Asylums at Worcester and Danvers investigates the last two linear hospitals in the state, which were designed to be much more expansive and elaborate than earlier Kirkbride buildings. Surrounded by controversy and changing ideas in the field of psychiatry, they quickly became outdated relics struggling to adapt. Having such specialized architecture and a massive building footprint, all four institutions were eventually abandoned due to the exorbitant cost of renovation. As land value rose, they were partially or fully razed for new developments.