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Night in Times Past
W. W. Norton
October 2006
On Sale: October 2, 2006
480 pages
ISBN: 0393329011
EAN: 9780393329018
Paperback
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Non-Fiction
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).60 illustrations; 8
pages of color.
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