A Human History of Emotion

Reviews

"Emotions are a much bigger part of the experience of being human than most people would ever realize. If you want to know more about emotions and how we arrived at our understanding of them, this book is exactly what you need."—Dean Burnett, author of Happy Brain “Reading The Human History of Emotion is like watching a familiar film turned upside down. Take Richard Firth-Godbehere's hand and let him walk you down a strange path through some new and familiar historical landscapes. I very much enjoyed having my preconceptions challenged, and any book so comprehensive that it starts with Socrates and ends with emojis deserves a place on my bookshelf.”—Iszi Lawrence, author and co-host of Making History "Richard Firth-Godbehere takes us on a rollercoaster of historical emotions, from the ancient to the modern and into the future. He shows that human emotions are more complex than you might think, with an infectious enthusiasm and energy that keep the pages turning. Whether you are looking for new ideas, narrative history, psychological theory, or cultural anthropology, this book will teach you something new about how people have felt about their feelings through the ages. A book like no other."—Thomas Dixon, author of Weeping Britannia: Portrait of a Nation in Tears "A fascinating look at the profound ways in which the harnessing of human emotions has shaped world-wide history and culture. Eye-opening and thought-provoking!”—Gina Rippon, author of The Gendered Brain "As we are so often held siege by and manipulated by our emotions, it seems wise to become calmly acquainted with them. Richard Firth-Godbehere provides an elegant and entertaining guide to the best and the worst of our furies and delights."—Robin Ince, co-host of The Infinite Monkey Cage “A well-written, fact-filled global tour. Readers interested in a history of emotional responses will find this a good place to start.”—Publishers Weekly "An educative foray...Insightful…Plenty of scholars seem to have read everything on their chosen subjects, but it’s rare to find one who can convert this massive database into lucid, captivating prose. Paul Johnson and Yuval Noah Harari do it; Firth-Godbehere is another."—Kirkus (Starred Review) Expand reviews