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.
- ISBN10 0300220391
- ISBN13 9780300220391
- Publish Date 15 August 2016
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Yale University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 296
- Language English