Sleep in Early Modern England

Sasha Handley is senior lecturer in early modern history at the University of Manchester. Her previous book is Visions of an Unseen World: Ghost Beliefs and Ghost Stories in Eighteenth-Century England. She lives in Manchester, UK.

“This book contains several increasingly important strands of historical thought: the histories of material objects, the body, the emotions and the senses. Handley’s materially and emotionally rich account of early modern sleep shows that the early modern bedchamber was a space where these histories intertwined.”—John Gallagher, London Review of Books“Handley’s illuminating work documents a major evolution in our conscious understanding of the unconscious. The judges commented in particular on the book’s novelty, and on the rich and thoroughly researched study of an important part of everyday life to which historians have paid little attention. The readers described the book as a significant contribution to social and cultural history, and an interesting and thought-provoking volume.”—Judges, Social History Society “Sleep, as this fascinating book demonstrates, is an extremely rich field.” —Tessa Storey, Journal of Social HistorySHORTLISTED FOR THE WOLFSON PRIZE AND LONGMAN HISTORY TODAY AWARD 2017, AND WINNER OF THE 2017 SOCIAL HISTORY SOCIETY PRIZE.'Sasha Handley’s Sleep in Early Modern England is sewn together like a fine quilt. Each chapter on slumber invites another - Handley and the subject of sleep make good bedfellows. She guides the reader through the material culture of the early modern bedroom, detailing truckle beds, linen sheets, and other stuff that dreams were dreamt on. She bolsters our understanding of how, where and when people slept in the early modern period, and also of various other tidbits, such as of the role of pre-sleep prayers and the use of dimity bedcovers. We also encounter the nasties which lurked: the bedbugs and the rough sheets for the servants, made of coarse linen and marked with an "S". An enjoyable book.' - Emily Cockayne, author of Hubbub: Filth, Noise and Stench in England