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At Day's Close:

Night in Times Past
Front Cover
A. Roger Ekirch
58 Reviews
W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2005 - History - 447 pages
NIGHT TIME--the forgotten half of history--spawned a remarkably vibrant culture with its own rules and rituals, scents, sights, and sounds. In the preindustrial age, daytime and nighttime were separate worlds--with daylight's departure people entered a dark realm of real and imagined perils. But darkness also offered people freedom from their daily lives, and multitudes drew fresh strength from the selling sun. Crime, fire, and evil spirits; navigating fields by starlight; evening gatherings to spin wool and tales; masked balls and night-cellars: magic ancestral lore, and prayers; midnight liaisons and bundling; dissolute aristocrats and rebellious slaves; the rhythms of sleep and dreams--all these and more are interwoven in A. Roger Ekirch's enthralling study based on twenty years of archival research. Beautifully illuminated by a color insert and with black-and-white illustrations throughout, this compelling narrative is panoramic in scope, yet fashioned on an intimate scale and enriched by personal stories.

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Very well-researched. - Goodreads
Plus there are fascinating illustrations throughout. - Goodreads
The writing is fine, I just felt it was a bit circular. - Goodreads
... um, educational. - Goodreads
The book is very thoroughly researched. - Goodreads
A little dry, but full of insights. - Goodreads

Review: At Day's Close: Night in Times Past

User Review  - Stacy - Goodreads

Fascinating topic and chock-full of interesting details, although I found the writing style and organization to be less engaging than the material itself. Read full review

Review: At Day's Close: Night in Times Past

User Review  - Jessica - Goodreads

I wanted to love this book. I'd read Ekirch's theories on sleep in a number of articles, and as an insomnia sufferer, was intrigued by the idea of "broken sleep." In addition, I have a degree in Early ... Read full review

All 57 reviews »

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References from web pages

At Day's Close: A History of Nighttime -- Jenner CXXII (498): 1084 ...
Institution: Google Indexer Sign In as Personal Subscriber · Oxford Journals · Humanities · English Historical Review · Volume CXXII, Number 498 ...
ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ cgi/ content/ full/ CXXII/ 498/ 1084

At Day's Close: Night in Times Past Webcast (Library of Congress)
Historian A. Roger Ekirch discussed his book, "At Day's Close: Night in Times Past," which examines the history of nocturnal activity in society in Western ...
www.lcweb.loc.gov/ today/ cyberlc/ feature_wdesc.php?rec=3730

At Day's Close-A History of Nighttime by A. Roger Ekirch ...
At Day's Close-A History of Nighttime by A. Roger Ekirch Hardback book 0297829920 / 9780297829928 Orion Books
www.orionbooks.co.uk/ HB-29051/ at-day's-close-Night-in-Time's-Past.htm

The Dark Ages - New York Times
The Dark Ages. By GIDEON LEWIS-KRAUS. AT DAY'S CLOSE Night in Times Past. By A. Roger Ekirch. Illustrated. 447 pp. ww Norton & Company. $25.95. ...
query.nytimes.com/ gst/ fullpage.html?res=9C0DEEDD113DF937A15754C0A9639C8B63& sec=& spon=& pagewanted=print

At day's close: night in times past (Book) (Harper's Magazine)
THINGS CONNECTED TO “At day's close: night in times past (Book)”. HUMAN BEINGS. Craveri, Benedetta · Ekirch, A. Roger · Mathews, Harry · Rothstein, Arnold ...
harpers.org/ subjects/ AtDaysCloseNightInTimesPastBook

At Day's Close: Night in Times Past
At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. ... I can certainly say Roger Ekirch’s new work - At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, a study of what people did at ...
europeanhistory.about.com/ b/ 2006/ 11/ 18/ at-days-close-night-in-times-past.htm

World History Connected | Vol. 5 No. 1 | Book Review
At Day's Close: Night in Times Past (New York and London: ww Norton & Company, 2005). 447 pp., $25.95. Works that challenge prevailing perceptions of the ...
www.historycooperative.org/ journals/ whc/ 5.1/ br_galgano.html

Untitled
At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past. By A. Roger Ekirch. New York: Norton, 2005. Pp. xxi+447. $25.95. We citizens of the technologically advanced societies ...
muse.jhu.edu/ journals/ technology_and_culture/ v047/ 47.3crosby.pdf

At Day’s Close - A. Roger Ekirch - Very Short List
At Day’s Close: An illuminating history of night. Very Short List is the very short, very free daily e-mail that uncovers excellent, under-hyped things to ...
www.veryshortlist.com/ vsl/ daily.cfm/ review/ 189/ Book/

Barnes & Noble.com - Books: At Day's Close, by A. Roger Ekirch ...
At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, Ekirch, A. Roger Ekirch, Paperback, REPRINT, Book, ISBN: 0393329011, Social Sciences - General & Miscellaneous, ...
search.barnesandnoble.com/ At-Days-Close/ A-Roger-Ekirch/ e/ 9780393329018

About the author (2005)

A. Roger Ekirch is a professor of history at Virginia Tech and the award-winning author of "At Day s Close" and of "Birthright". He lives in Roanoke, Virginia.

Bibliographic information

QR code for At Day's Close
TitleAt Day's Close: Night in Times Past
EditorA. Roger Ekirch
Editionillustrated
PublisherW W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2005
ISBN0393050890, 9780393050899
Length447 pages
Subjects › 

History / World
  
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