Early Modern Emotions: An Introduction (Early Modern Themes) - Softcover

"A savory book for anyone interested in the history of emotions, Early Modern Emotions offers the timid a tempting buffet of short essays to sample, while the more serious scholar will find the whole a sumptuous feast."
Barbara H. Rosenwein, Professor emerita, Loyola University Chicago, USA

"This is an inspiring collection. The brief essays explain complicated topics in clear language and with engaging examples. The volume makes historiography approachable for students, who can use the material as the starting point for classroom discussions or research papers. Such a wide range of material is so ably handled that the scholar, too, will profit from dipping into the book to think about early modern emotions from new angles."
Caroline R. Sherman, The Catholic University of America, USA

Early Modern Emotions is a student-friendly introduction to the concepts, approaches and sources used to study emotions in early modern Europe, and to the perspectives that analysis of the history of emotions can offer early modern studies more broadly.

The volume is divided into four sections that guide students through the key processes and practices employed in current research on the history of emotions. The first explains how key terms and concepts in the study of emotions relate to early modern Europe, while the second focuses on the unique ways in which emotions were conceptualized at the time. The third section introduces a range of sources and methodologies that are used to analyse early modern emotions. The final section includes a wide-ranging selection of thematic topics covering war, religion, family, politics, art, music, literature and the non-human world to show how analysis of emotions may offer new perspectives on the early modern period more broadly.

Each section offers bite-sized, accessible commentaries providing students new to the history of emotions with the tools to begin their own investigations. Each entry is supported by annotated further reading recommendations pointing students to the latest research in that area and at the end of the book is a general bibliography, which provides a comprehensive list of current scholarship.

This book is the perfect starting point for any student wishing to study emotions in early modern Europe.