Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World

In his latest work, Reiss (literature, Emory Univ.; The Showman and the Slave) takes on the daunting task of compiling a history of modern sleep over the last two centuries, with mixed success. Attempting to build on works such as A. Roger Ekrich's At Day's Close: Nights in Times Past, Reiss's interdisciplinary approach to the topic offers varied perspectives, compelling anecdotes, and a well-researched bibliography for readers interested in learning more about the global state of sleep affairs. However, the author fails to explain convincingly the notion of modern sleep as "wild," and how its adoption has "created our restless world." There are simply too many cultural factors at play to decouple, many of which are hard to document. Often offering anachronistic comparisons beginning with the onset of modern sleep in the 19th century and ending in the digital age, Reiss rarely follows through on the respective historical arcs that are pertinent toward a comprehensive telling of the story he wants to write.