My second book currently under contract with Polity Press will be on the history of circadian rhythms.

Body Clock: A History will be a new history of sleep and circadian rhythms that moves beyond just scientific perspectives. Taking a cultural history approach, this wide-ranging book will consider the universal experience of having a body with daily rhythms. Inspired by the findings of contemporary chronobiology, it reconsiders the history of health and illness through the lens of daily rhythms. I’ve called this book a ‘new history’ because there is no set narrative for telling the story of circadian rhythms. Rhythms pervade every element of our lives – they are a core aspect of everyday experience, and influence health through universal experiences like sleeping.

But sleep is far from the only subject under consideration here. Thinking through circadian rhythms involves considering the many daily cycles of the body together. This book is not a history of sleeping or eating or working – but one which interweaves these daily rhythms and considers their interrelations in different temporal and social contexts. What it means to have insomnia, to be an early bird, or to struggle with indigestion is caught up in wider societal debates about efficiency, war, capitalism, and even the space race.

Thinking about the history of health and illness through the lens of rhythms offers new perspectives on medicine, science, and society that undergird our modern lives. Why do we work five days a week? How much sleep do we really need? And can’t we just take a pill that makes us efficient around the clock? The story of circadian rhythms is the story of a push and pull between our bodies, our environment and our working lives. Whether we can find a balance has yet to be decided.

This book is currently under development and is expected to be delivered in the coming years. For more as the project develops stay tuned in to this page!