Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2017.
We face many clashing opinions about sleep today. But spare a thought for the hapless person in pre C18 England, harried by thoughts of sloth and religious foot-dragging. Hemmed around by different but still numerous sleep “rules” their view of darkness in these pre-electric-light days is also a fascinating subject. ~ Sue Baker
Like for Like Reading
At Day’s Close: A History of Nighttime, A Roger Ekirch
Wild Nights, How Taming Sleep Created our Restless World, Benjamin Reiss
Wolfson History Prize Judges “A book of sheer originality and novelty… Handley tackles an almost completely neglected subjected with disarming modesty.”
Drawing on diverse archival sources and material artifacts, Handley reveals that the way we sleep is as dependent on culture as it is on biological and environmental factors. After 1660 the accepted notion that sleepers lay at the mercy of natural forces and supernatural agents was challenged by new medical thinking about sleep's relationship to the nervous system. This breakthrough coincided with radical changes shaping everything from sleeping hours to bedchambers.
| Primary Genre | History |
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Drawing on diverse archival sources and material artifacts, Handley reveals that the way we sleep is as dependent on culture as it is on biological and environmental factors. After 1660 the accepted notion that sleepers lay at the mercy of natural forces and supernatural agents was challenged by new medical thinking about sleep's relationship to the nervous system.
Sleep in Early Modern England features in the following genres: History, Non-Fiction Books of the Month, eBooks of the Month, History and Archaeology, Recommendations
Hardback. Not Available.
Sleep in Early Modern England was written by Sasha Handley and published by Yale University Press
Sleep in Early Modern England has 296 pages
