Description
We hear “Early to bed, early to rise,” and think our ancestors got the sleep for which we long. But even without the incandescent light bulb, 24-hour diners and late-night comics to distract them, our pre-industrial relatives were slumbering only seven or eight hours a night. Historian Roger Ekirch (Virginia Tech), author of the forthcoming A Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, looks at how the farmers, tradesmen and laborers in times past spent their nights. He defines first and morning sleep and explores the fears that darkness brought. Also featured: Many people are all too familiar with the night. Insomnia will affect most of us at some point in our lives. As far back as the ancient Hittites, poets who found themselves wide awake at 3 a.m. recorded their thoughts. English professor and poet Lisa Russ Spaar (University of Virginia), editor of Acquainted with the Night: Insomnia Poems, leads a poetic journey through the night.
