Description
Bringing light to the shadows of history through a "rich weave of citation and archival evidence" (Publishers Weekly), scholar A. Roger Ekirch illuminates the aspects of life most often overlooked by other historians--those that unfold at night. In this "triumph of social history" (Mail on Sunday), Ekirch's "enthralling anthropology" (Harper's) exposes the nightlife that spawned a distinct culture and a refuge from daily life.
Fear of crime, of fire, and of the supernatural; the importance of moonlight; the increased incidence of sickness and death at night; evening gatherings to spin wool and stories; masqued balls; inns, taverns, and brothels; the strategies of thieves, assassins, and conspirators; the protective uses of incantations, meditations, and prayers; the nature of our predecessors' sleep and dreams--Ekirch reveals all these and more in his "monumental study" (The Nation) of sociocultural history, "maintaining throughout an infectious sense of wonder" (Booklist).
Author: A. Roger Ekirch
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 10/17/2006
Pages: 488
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.94lbs
Size: 8.22h x 5.84w x 1.19d
ISBN13: 9780393329018
ISBN10: 0393329011
BISAC Categories:
- History | Social History
- Social Science | Anthropology | Cultural & Social