At Day's Close - A History of Nighttime

A fascinating and colourful social history of the nighttime.

'A wonderful revelation of a vanished age of darkness' SPECTATOR

'Fascinating' SUNDAY TIMES

'A splendid book ... great entertainment' Sir Patrick Moore

'A triumph of social history. Almost every page contains something to surprise the reader ... one of the most enjoyable literary experiences of the year' MAIL ON SUNDAY

From blanket fairs to night kings, curfews to crime, At Day's Close is an intriguing and captivating investigation into the night. Until now, this rich and complex universe in which we spend nearly half of our lives was a world long-lost to historians.

Here, Ekirch explores how the night was lived in the past, through travel accounts, memoirs, letters, folklore, poems, court records and coroner's reports. More than this, it is a passionate argument in the case for less artificial light in an increasingly bright world.

About the author

Professor A. Roger Ekirch was born in 1950 in America. He teaches at Virginia Tech. On the basis of his research into the nighttime, Ekirch was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Summary

A fascinating and colourful social history of the nighttime. 'A wonderful revelation of a vanished age of darkness' SPECTATOR

Foreword

A fascinating and colourful social history of the nighttime.
'A wonderful revelation of a vanished age of darkness' SPECTATOR

Product details

• Authors: A Roger Ekirch, A. Roger Ekirch
• Publisher: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 31.12.2021
• EAN: 9781474624916
• ISBN: 978-1-4746-2491-6
• No. of pages: 480
• Dimensions: 128 mm x 196 mm x 40 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Wales, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, NATURE / Sky Observation, natural history, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Wales, Folklore, myths & legends, History: earliest times to present day, Social and cultural history, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, Folklore, myths and legends, Nature and the natural world: general interest, European history: medieval period, middle ages, SCIENCE / Space Science / Astronomy