{"product_id":"9780393344585","title":"At Day's Close: Night in Times Past","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Remarkable…Ekirch has emptied night's pockets, and laid the contents out before us.\" —Arthur Krystal, \u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBringing light to the shadows of history through a \"rich weave of citation and archival evidence\" (\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e), scholar A. Roger Ekirch illuminates the aspects of life most often overlooked by other historians—those that unfold at night. In this \"triumph of social history\" (\u003cem\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/em\u003e), Ekirch's \"enthralling anthropology\" (\u003cem\u003eHarper's\u003c\/em\u003e) exposes the nightlife that spawned a distinct culture and a refuge from daily life.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFear of crime, of fire, and of the supernatural; the importance of moonlight; the increased incidence of sickness and death at night; evening gatherings to spin wool and stories; masqued balls; inns, taverns, and brothels; the strategies of thieves, assassins, and conspirators; the protective uses of incantations, meditations, and prayers; the nature of our predecessors' sleep and dreams—Ekirch reveals all these and more in his \"monumental study\" (\u003cem\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/em\u003e) of sociocultural history, \"maintaining throughout an infectious sense of wonder\" (\u003cem\u003eBooklist\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Norton, W. W. \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47104879591664,"sku":"9780393344585","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780393344585_p0.jpg?v=1763697213","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780393344585","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}