Sleep remains one of the most mysterious areas of our lives. We all
sleep, maybe not as much as we would like, but it¿s a universal
human experience, as necessary as breathing and as nourishing as
eating. But how much do we really know about sleep? What happens in
the third of our lives when we¿re slumbering? How have sleep,
dreams and nightmares been interpreted over the centuries? Why do
so many people feel that they are deprived of sleep? How did our
ancestors use to sleep? Sleep has its own unexpected and rich story
¿ ranging across science, history, literature and philosophy. It¿s
been a cultural battleground between those who see sleep as a gift
from nature and those who have seen it as an idle waste of time. In
an overcrowded, exhausting 24-hour culture, sleep has become a
valuable, rationed commodity. It¿s something that people are
thinking about more than ever before. This bedside-table companion
responds to this interest in sleep, providing a mixture of short,
browsable pieces and more extended sections. The style is informed,
thoughtful and entertaining, in keeping with the subject matter. It
is intelligent but playful, quirky and amusing. Any study of sleep
has to savour the delight of the long lie-in, the sexual musk of
night time; discuss the history of the bed, the origin of pyjamas
and how the Elizabethans saw the pillow as a sign of moral weakness
and examine why the Italians called the bed the 'the opera of
the poor'.
For more on this fascinating subject, delve between the covers. BBC Radio 4 Loose Ends Fascinating ... answers a host of nocturnal conundrums. Daily Mail Everyone should have a jolly good sleep after this. Vanessa Feltz What could be more welcome than this celebration of the glory of a good night's kip? Financial Times A perfect gift. The Bookseller
