Lives Uncovered

Curated by acclaimed scholar Nicholas Terpstra, Lives Uncovered is a fascinating collection of early modern primary sources organized around the human life cycle: from birth through youth and adulthood to death. Providing an in-depth social history of the period, Lives Uncovered is an excellent resource for those eager to deepen their understanding of the period.

The collection begins with a short explanation on "How to Read a Primary Source," which helps readers recognize different kinds of primary sources and introduces the idea of critical reading. A brief essay on "Life Cycles in the Early Modern Period" details the organization of the volume and explains each stage in the life cycle within its historical context.

Over 150 readings examine men and women from different social classes and different religious and racial groups, addressing sex and sexuality, food and drink, poverty, crime and punishment, religious tension and co-existence, and migration and emigration. Using a creative range of sources such as letters, wills, laws, diaries, fiction, and poems, Terpstra gives readers a comprehensive picture of everyday life in early modern Europe and in other parts of the globe that Europeans were beginning to settle and colonize.

Each of the life cycle chapters includes a combination of longer readings, shorter readings, and images. Every reading begins with a short introduction that sets the context of the primary source, while review questions complement the main themes of the readings. Over 30 illustrations serve as non-textual primary sources. An index is also provided.