Product Description

This is a well-researched and entertaining book. Ranging from a Neolithic stone bed unearthed at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands to the bed from Tutankhamen's tomb c.1350BC; from stark Anglo-Saxon to ornate early Renaissance beds and the elaborate State bedchambers of kings, this book is lavishly illustrated throughout. Marvel at the lacquered and gilt mid-18th century bed by Chippendale in his Chinese period, and his design for one with such an elaborate and overpowering superstructure that the bed itself looks like a small cushion, at complex wardrobe beds and revolutionary American metal folding beds. Interwoven in the narrative is the history of social, sexual and sanitary attitudes to the design of beds, making this a fascinating history of the place where we spend nearly a third of our lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #598275 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

About the Author
Lawrence Wright was a well-known architectural painter and he exhibited paintings, etchings and perspectives of contemporary buildings for many years at the Royal Academy and at the Guildhall Art Gallery. He was also a designer of historical exhibitions and from these developed his books, Warm and Snug, Clean and Decent (a history of the bathroom and water closet) and Home Fires Burning, a history.

Customer Reviews

Bedside Stories
A slightly scatter-gun but wonderfully warm, witty and entertaining survey of beds in history and the social mores that went with them. The real charm of this book is the author's voice - his inspired Chaucerian extrapolation of medieval wooing had me in stitches. Not to mention every chapter beginning mock-pedantically with "this was a time of the emerging middle-class"... Plus a wonderful collection of pictures. A book to spend the weekend in bed with, and a real cross-genre gem.