Rise and Shine

Also available in hardback, 9781845201302 GBP55.00 (April, 2007)

Sunshine plays an important role in all aspects of life. This book looks at sunlight as part of our material and social culture. It traces the network of social and medical forces that constitute our sometimes problematic, relationship with sun and sunlight.Sunshine plays an important role in all aspects of life but there has been little social analysis of the sun and its place in our world. Recently experts have warned us that the sun's rays are dangerous. Yet, a suntan can still be taken as a sign of health. How did we arrive at this ambivalent relationship to the sun and what does this say about our changing attitudes to the human body and environment? Rise and Shine takes as its starting point a view of sunlight as part of our material and social culture. How did the use of sunlight to treat tuberculosis and rickets in the early twentieth century alter our relationship with the sun? When was suntan lotion invented? By drawing on a range of archival and historical sources, Rise and Shine traces the network of social and medical forces that constitute our current, sometimes problematic, relationship with sun and sunlight.