Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A riveting look at how the early modern world revolutionized sleep and its relation to body, mind, soul, and society
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. Handley's illuminating work documents a major evolution in our conscious understanding of the unconscious.
Synopsis
Shortlisted for the 2017 Wolfson History Prize
After 1660, scientific discoveries about the body's nervous system began to demystify supernatural explanations of sleep. Using a range of archival sources and material artifacts, this illuminating cultural history documents how radical changes in the early modern world revolutionized sleep and its relation to body, mind, soul, and society.