$42.36 with 23 percent savings
List Price: $54.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 15. Order within 3 hrs 21 mins
In Stock
$$42.36 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$42.36
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

A Cultural History of Twin Beds (Home) 1st Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$42.36","priceAmount":42.36,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"42","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"36","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"A2cR0qgz01ASyNZ99srKzUj1YBMpTAFx0N3yGT0uBk2CvYgsCv%2Bk7twk6nD%2Fbqfrg7%2BhwYxhAO%2BUaJXB7rPze4hxa5NxDxuqYzZUL%2FKWj%2FGiSncwx8vCEyG0Ak6QNLPVzgMEXveha0P3eCLWd3jOBQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A Cultural History of Twin Beds challenges our most ingrained assumptions about intimacy, sexuality, domesticity and hygiene by tracing the rise and fall of twin beds as a popular sleeping arrangement for married couples between 1870 and 1970. Modern preconceptions of the twin bed revolve around their use by couples who have no desire to sleep in the same bed space. Yet, for the best part of a century, twin beds were not only seen as acceptable but were championed as the sign of a modern and forward-thinking couple. But what lay behind this innovation? And why did so many married couples ultimately abandon the twin bed?In this book, Hilary Hinds presents a fascinating insight into the combination of beliefs and practices that made twin beds an ideal sleeping solution. Using nuanced close readings of marriage guidance and medical advice books, furnishing catalogues, novels, films and newspapers, this volume offers an accessible and rigorous account of the curious history of twin beds. This is vital reading for those with an interest in cultural history, sociology, anthropology and psychology.

Read more Read less

Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Delving through marriage guidance and medical advice books, furniture catalogues and novels, Lancaster University professor Hilary Hinds found that twin beds were initially adopted in the late 19th century as a health precaution. […] Hinds's book lays out how, by the 1930s, twin beds were commonplace in middle-class households. But by the 1940s, writes Hinds, 'they can occasion an unmistakable curl of the lip' and are 'no longer the preserve of the health-conscious forward-thinking middle classes'." – The Guardian

"Elegantly written and thoroughly researched, Hilary Hinds' fascinating book demonstrates the shifting role played by the twin bed in the histories of hygiene, consumer culture, sexuality and marriage. Hind reveals the twin bed to be a forgotten actor in late 19th- and 20th-century efforts to reimagine and reform domestic relations." – Garrett A. Sullivan Jr., Pennsylvania State University, USA

"Twins or double? Tucked away behind the neutral hotel-room options, Hilary Hinds uncovers a compellingly curious 20th-century cultural history. A fascinating story of changing domestic and marital values." – Rachel Bowlby, University College London, UK

"This fascinating cultural history offers fresh perspectives on public health, domestic hygiene, marital sexuality and even modernity itself." – Laura Doan, University of Manchester, UK

"Highly original in content and approach, A Cultural History of Twin Beds presents an exciting and novel historical story and sets up a good model for future studies of domestic objects." – Journal of British Studies

"Lancaster University professor Hilary Hinds explores couples’ bedtime habits in A Cultural History of Twin Beds […] She found that, up until the 1950s, the notion of sharing a bed was regarded as old-fashioned and unhealthy. More than half a century on in 2020, the opposite is true." – Vogue

About the Author

Hilary Hinds is Professor of Literary Culture at Lancaster University, UK.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (March 31, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0367784807
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0367784805
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 16 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.67 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Hilary Hinds
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
28 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

There are 0 reviews and 1 rating from the United States

Top reviews from other countries

Peter
3.0 out of 5 stars Rather long-winded and repetitive
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2022
No comment