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Artificial Sunshine: A Social History of Domestic Lighting
An exploration of domestic lighting from the middle ages to the 1990s, ranging from the practical considerations to the influence of lighting upon the clothes people wore and the way that they furnished their houses.
- GenresHistory
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
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March 28, 2017
Was introduced to the author of this book from a Lucy Worsley BBC documentary.
It is a very good social history of the development of lighting and its extent and economics. It is UK centric with examples from National Trust properties. It is very interesting and gives a totally different view than one obtained from films and historical novels. The total ignoring of the economics of lighting, especially of the use of numerous candles and their type in most fictional productions distorts the general view of history.
It could of used additional drawn illustrations, perhaps patent application drawings, or new ones instead of the photo illustrations. I found the photo illustrations hard to extract any hard information from. Some additional hard data, say from great house account books, would also improve its usefulness as history.
It is a very good social history of the development of lighting and its extent and economics. It is UK centric with examples from National Trust properties. It is very interesting and gives a totally different view than one obtained from films and historical novels. The total ignoring of the economics of lighting, especially of the use of numerous candles and their type in most fictional productions distorts the general view of history.
It could of used additional drawn illustrations, perhaps patent application drawings, or new ones instead of the photo illustrations. I found the photo illustrations hard to extract any hard information from. Some additional hard data, say from great house account books, would also improve its usefulness as history.
Displaying 1 of 1 review