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9781035424733

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This is a wonderful and important book. Beautifully written, of course; but full of pain and joy, concern and celebration. -- Simon Russell Beale This is a superbly written, even entertaining treatment of a sombre topic - how people with learning disabilities are marginalised and ignored. This has a long history, going back to classical times, a story well told here. If you have never asked yourself whether calling someone an 'idiot' is as bad as using the 'n' word, you will certainly do so after reading this book. I could not recommend it more highly. -- Jan Walmsley, Visiting Chair of Learning Disability History, Open University Unwin's marvellous, elegant, moving book is a major contribution to both the history and the understanding of this thing we call learning disability. Interspersed with the story of his complex, deeply loving relationship with his son Joey, it is a powerful, multi-faceted, myth-busting account of the most marginalised and belittled out-group in modern society. -- Simon Jarrett, author of Those They Called Idiots This book is both heartrending and gorgeous. It crosses the line many times but ultimately it's about love. He teaches us humanity. -- Miriam Margolyes A beautiful book - powerful, persuasive, illuminating, moving. -- Gyles Brandreth, Broadcaster and former Member of Parliament From ancient Rome through the Medieval Ages to the present day and with a manifesto for the future, Beautiful Lives, about the past and present of 'disability', is also a wise, funny and poignant love letter from a father to his son. Joey may not be able to chat in the way that most of us have been able to do with our own dads. But Joey and Stephen's connection pulse through every sentence of this brilliantly smart, loving story about the history of ""idiots"", ""retards"", ""challenged"", ""different"" and above all very human . . . human beings. From ancient civilisation to the present day, Stephen Unwin's superb historical account of attitudes to mental and physical handicaps and experiences, combined with his unimpeachable personal account, make this a profoundly important insight into life on the front line for family's living with learning disability. A unique history of difference. Pulsing through this scholarly account of society's relationship with learning disability over millennia is Stephen Unwin's unwavering, joyous love for his son Joey, and his passionate advocacy on behalf of those whose voices are too often unheard. Smart and passionate, Stephen Unwin's account of society's attitude to disability through the ages crackles with energy, intelligence and above all personal experience. Illuminating, touching and passionate. Fascinating, illuminating, angry and deeply affecting. Fizzes with scholarship worn lightly and a parent's love borne deeply. Passionate and provocative, Stephen Unwin's book takes society by the lapels and shakes it into paying attention. An important account of learning disability through the ages and a manifesto for a better future. Astonishingly well researched, informative and personal, it's also a tribute to a son who will never read a word of his father's passionate advocacy. From recounting jaw-dropping institutional abuse throughout history, to positive steps towards inclusion in the present, Stephen Unwin's deeply personal connection to the subject matter lifts this scholarly account of society's relationship with learning disabilities to the level of a beautiful passionate story of a father and son. Never has the phrase lived experience been more appropriate for an author whose intelligent and brilliantly researched book is also a love letter to his beloved son, Joey. While invaluable and strengthening for anyone who has shared Stephen Unwin's experience, it's also a revealing and richly insightful book for anyone who hasn't. Angry, proud, incisive - this book is as scholarly in its account of the history of learning disabilities in society as it is passionate about the author's own lived experience. With an astonishing breadth of research and a profoundly personal narrative, Stephen Unwin's book on society's treatment of those living with learning disabilities is revealing, wise, angry and hopeful. Thank you, Joey, for getting your Dad off his arse to write this book. * Hugh Bonneville * From a place of intense personal experience Beautiful Lives confronts the myths of learning disability with a startling clarity. It's a profoundly affecting book that also provides a manifesto for the future. Just as he has done with his playwriting Unwin has not only made the ""strange, familiar"" but tackled every myth and every spectrum of debate with a delicate touch. No reader will be left unchallenged by this incredible and important book. No reader will be left untouched. -- Lucy Easthope, author of WHEN THE DUST SETTLES With an astonishing breadth of research and a profoundly personal narrative, Stephen Unwin's book on society's treatment of those living with learning disabilities is revealing, wise, angry and hopeful. Thank you, Joey, for getting your Dad off his arse to write this book. -- Hugh Bonneville In Beautiful Lives, Stephen Unwin takes us on an important and exhilarating journey from ancient philosophy to the contemporary era exploring how people with learning disabilities have been marginalised, excluded and even erased from cultural and historical record. This is a must-read for anyone wanting to develop a deeper, more humanistic understanding of this area. -- Professor Sara Ryan, author of JUSTICE FOR LAUGHING BOY Thank God for Joey, for without this remarkable young man his father would not have written this extraordinary book. Stephen Unwin has used his considerable intellectual force to cast a forensic look on the world of learning disabilities. It is a gallop from Ancient Rome to the present, with literary quotations from The Idiot Boy by William Wordsworth, to the constricting language of various Government White papers - constricting in every sense, for Unwin passionately believes that putting people with learning disabilities into categories denies them their individual humanity. There are stand out heroes in these pages, but the shocking reality of where we are now, in this so called civilised 21st century, makes for difficult reading. The number of people with learning disabilities and autism who are locked up, abused in residential settings, murdered, tortured and dreadfully neglected, is horrifying. Beautiful Lives is a book that should be compulsory reading for every politician and every GP. Stephen speaks for every parent of a child with a learning disability in articulating his frustration at a system which forces them to fight for everything that should be a given. He passionately makes the case that human beings should not be judged by their ability but valued for being who they are; that people with learning disabilities may be 'other', but we need to look past their condition and recognise that they share with all of us a common humanity. There is justifiable anger in this book but underpinning it all is Stephen's profound love for Joey. For his son who does not speak. Stephen's life and career are about words, but Joey has taught him that there are so many other ways in which to communicate, that a touch, a look, make words redundant. I hope that Joey's voice, amplified by his father, will be heard and understood. A beautiful life indeed. -- Baroness Rosa Monckton Beautiful Lives is a book that should be compulsory reading for every politician and every GP. Stephen speaks for every parent of a child with a learning disability in articulating his frustration at a system which forces them to fight for everything that should be a given. Stephen's life and career are about words, but Joey has taught him that there are so many other ways in which to communicate, that a touch, a look, make words redundant. I hope that Joey's voice, amplified by his father, will be heard and understood. A beautiful life indeed. -- Baroness Rosa Monckton Erudite, wise, and beautifully written; but above all, a labour of love. -- Dominic Lawson, journalist Beautiful Lives is a fascinating exploration of what it means to live with learning disability and has meant over time. It's the kind of book I dreamt of having when my son's learning disability and possible autism were mooted when he was just two years old. Beautiful Lives is both scholarly, and personal, erudite and profound, historical and bang up to date. It is not sentimental, rather it's realistic and hopeful in equal measure. Readers will feel safe to explore changing attitudes over time without feeling judged and to reexamine their own attitudes. -- Baroness Sheila Hollins

Author Information

Stephen Unwin is one of Britain's leading theatre and opera directors. He founded English Touring Theatre in 1993 and opened the Rose Theatre Kingston in 2008, which he ran until 2014. He is the author of ten books, including guides to Shakespeare, Brecht, Ibsen and twentieth-century drama for Faber, Nick Hern Books and Bloomsbury. In 2022, Reaktion Books published Poor Naked Wretches, an original and much praised study of Shakespeare's working people. Stephen's second son Joey has severe learning disabilities and Stephen is a campaigner for the rights and opportunities of people like him. His stage plays include All Our Children (London, 2017; New York 2019) and Laughing Boy (London, 2024), both of which concern the historic abuse of disabled children and young people. He writes a regular column for Byline Times, mostly on disability, as well as a popular blog on his website. www.stephenunwin.uk

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