Description
Book SynopsisPulling back the covers on the fascinating, yet often forgotten, history of the bed If you thought that your bed was only good for sleeping in, having sex in, or dying in, then this book will disabuse youin fact, it's so entertaining, it will keep you awake long into the night.Paul Chrystal, author of In Bed with the Ancient Greeks and In Bed with the Romans Louis XIV ruled France from his bedchamber. Winston Churchill governed Britain from his during World War II. Travelers routinely used to bed down with complete strangers, and whole families shared beds in many preindustrial households. Beds were expensive itemsand often for show. Tutankhamun was buried on a golden bed, wealthy Greeks were sent to the afterlife on dining beds, and deceased middle-class Victorians were propped up on a bed in the parlor. In this sweeping social history that covers the past seventy thousand years, Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani look at the endlessly varied role of the bed through time. This was a pl
Trade Review“[An] entertaining new study”—Helen Davies,
The Sunday Times“This book is a fascinating read. It is full of anecdotes set in and around the bed, making use of primary sources where possible, and the authors can't seem to stop themselves from relating interesting facts only tangentially linked to the topic in hand”
—Hollie L.S. Morgan,
History Today“Anyone wishing to appreciate the pedigree of this unjustly overlooked item of furniture should dive between the covers of this volume to experience the ultimate bedtime story.”—
Current World Archaeology“Drawing on a range of sources – mythology, folklore, philosophy, literature, advice manuals, diaries – it is when Fagan and Durrani use archaeological and anthropological research that they broaden our understandings of this horizontal (if occasionally, vertical) history…Fagan and Durrani stretch the definition of the bed, encompassing all those places where one might lay their head to sleep.”—Vicky Holmes, Cultural and Social History
“If you thought that your bed was only good for sleeping in, having sex in, or dying in, then this book will disabuse you—in fact, it’s so entertaining, it will keep you awake long into the night.”—Paul Chrystal, author of
In Bed with the Ancient Greeks and
In Bed with the Romans“This is a fascinating account of an important object that has not previously received the attention it deserves.”—Chris Scarre, Durham University
"This delightful expose of one of humanity’s most beloved furnishings is the ultimate bedtime story. Discovering the tales that beds could tell brings a new meaning to pillow talk."—Matthew Symonds, editor,
Current World Archaeology
