Description
Book SynopsisImaginatively conceived, deeply informed, and elegantly written, Sensory Worlds of Early America convincingly establishes sensory experience as a legitimate object of historical inquiry and vividly brings America's colonial era to life.
Trade ReviewFar ranging, imaginative... Sensory Worlds in Early America is a signal contribution to the emerging field of the history of the senses. It is a work of scholarship that takes risks with its sources and conclusions, asking readers to stretch their horizons to include new elements in the practice of twenty-first century cultural history. In that it succeeds admirably. -- Richard Cullen Rath William and Mary Quarterly 2004 Part of the contribution of Peter Charles Hoffer's elegantly written study is that it suggests what dedicated attention to the senses might achieve. -- Mark M. Smith American Historical Review 2004 Hoffer's thesis that history is part of a sensate process is remarkable, infectious, and written with verve. Choice 2004 Sensory Worlds works best when Hoffer uses his evidence to carefully reconstruct the sensate experience in early America in order to bring new depth to familiar stories. -- John Smolenski Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 2005
Table of ContentsContents:Introduction New Worlds for Historians: The Realm of the Senses1. Brave New Worlds: English-Indian Encounters 2. Invisible Worlds: Indian Wars and Witchcraft Crises 3. Other Worlds: Slave Revolts and Religious Awakenings 4. A World of Difference: The Revolution of the Senses
