This is a fun history of the bed and its many functions through the ages. If you're looking for a history of sex this will be a disappointment. However, if you're looking for a deep dive into a piece of furniture, this is for you!

This ended up being an interesting is somewhat dry book on the history of beds, sleeping and the nocturnal activities of human beings. It was informative and entertaining but may not be everyone's cup of tea as it definitely does read more like a study or a research paper than a literary work.

I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well written and informative text. An interesting subject but took a while to wade through it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

Beds. Their history, evolution, types of, what they were and are used for (certainly not just sleeping apparently), attitudes to them, beds as status symbols, what is actually meant by the word “bed” – everything you never knew you needed to know is contained in this entertaining and engaging study of beds and bedrooms. Perhaps more a book to dip in and out of rather than plough straight through, as I found the accumulation of facts somewhat overpowering at times, but overall an original and illuminating work of social history.

A fascinating read on a topic I knew nothing about. There were lots of fun facts and such a fascinating history on something you wouldn’t even think about. I can’t believe that people shared their beds with strangers!

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of What We Did in Bed.

This book was fascinating, interesting, and funny all rolled into one!

The authors do a fantastic job presenting the social history of one of the most often looked, but vital piece of furniture in our home: the bed!

There were so many amusing, hilarious and, kind of shocking facts about the bed, most of which I didn't know.

The authors offer historical context and explain how the bed has evolved through the centuries. There's a lot of information and it's clear the authors did their research.

I don't judge a book by its cover but I have to say, I LOVE this cover and the title.

Wow! I never thought of the bed having so much history. I cannot imagine sharing a bed with strangers like travelers did in the past. That seems so gross to me, but apparently it was what you did when you traveled. And whole families used to share a bed. This book was filled with weird facts that anyone that loves obscure information will eat up!

Despite the eyebrow-lifting name, this was kind of a dull book on how our understanding and use of the bed and bedroom evolved. The book starts with the sleeping practices of the earliest humans to the ones of today and details the evolution of communal sleeping into private sleeping that we prefer now. It also goes into the concept of privacy, which basically didn't exist up to the Victorian times (humans often slept in groups or shared beds with family members or even guests, regardless of relationships.) That part was interesting to read about. There is also info about the tradition of birthing beds and death beds, as well as beds being places of governance (the "state bed" which was often a place Kings or Queens ruled from.) All the information is mildly interesting, but it didn't engage me all that much, unfortunately.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

I'm fascinated by sleep, so when I saw What We Did In Bed: A Horizontal History by Brian Fagan & Nadia Durrani was available on NetGalley it was a no-brainer.

This non-fiction gem contains a history of beds through time, including changes in beds from the Egyptian Pharaohs all the way to the modern age. Sleeping habits are discussed, including bed sharing amongst family members and travelling strangers and co-sleeping with children.

Dreams, sex, childbirth and death are all activities that happen in bed and are given much consideration within the text.

Futons, reed mats, raised beds, beds on ropes, bundling boards, truckle beds, pallet beds, waterbeds and inner spring beds are all covered with interest. Deathbeds and funerary couches were a highlight, as were the seemingly excessive bedding layers required to make a Victorian era bed.

It was fascinating to learn medieval Europeans slept at an angle partially upright, and that the witching hour was first recorded in 1883 and took place between midnight and 4.00AM.

I enjoyed reading about famous people who required very little sleep, including Winston Churchill, Leonardo da Vinci, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and Napoleon. Modern day 'short sleepers' include Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

However, I was most pleased to discover What We Did In Bed included one of my favourite sleep related topics: segmented sleep and the fact that we used to sleep in two four hour chunks with a gap of wakefulness in between. The author of one of my favourite books At Day’s Close - A History of Nighttime by A. Roger Ekirch was referenced together with his thoughts on biphasic sleep.

Authors Fagan and Durrani explain on page 4:
".. a practice known as segmented sleep that seems to have been commonplace before electric light turned night into day. People slept for, say, four hours, after which they would awaken and spend time having sex, analyzing dreams, praying, doing chores, meeting friends, or committing crimes and other devilish deeds, and then return to bed for another four hours or so."

Here an interesting quote about bed design from page 4:
"By Tutankhamun's time, around the mid-fourteenth century BC, the basic design of the bed (as we would recognize it) was well established, albeit slightly higher at the pillow end and with a footboard to prevent the sleeper from sliding off."

And I enjoyed this tidbit from France during the reign of the Sun King from page 158:
"At Versailles a valet always sat inside the wooden enclosure around the king's bed because the court was concerned about sorcery. An enemy of the monarch could sprinkle spell-carrying mixtures on the bed that could endanger the occupant."

In conclusion, there was plenty to bookmark and highlight during the reading process, but I'm not convinced the title accurately sums up the content. Perhaps 'A Horizontal History' might have been more accurate. While the book did cover sleep, dreams, sex, childbirth, illness and death, there wasn't enough focus on other recreational activities that we engage in right now whilst in bed. I guess I was left wanting more.

What We Did In Bed: A Horizontal History by Brian Fagan & Nadia Durrani is recommended reading for anyone with an interest in beds and sleep across history.

A good reference book for writers who are wondering just what sex was like in different time periods. Should be on every shelf

This proved to be what I hoped for – one of those delicious books telling you so much you didn't know about a subject you never really previously thought to find that interesting. But from prehistoric padded cave cells to the most urban and urbane mattresses in pods, this covers everything about mankind's bedding, bedrooms, and what happens under the sheets. Yes, there is a little bit about sex here and there, but this is about the social, cultural history of the whole thing, of how beds got to be four-postered, or simple, lightweight and collapsible, or things from which French kings would deliver their rarefied eminency. It's thoroughly diverse as well, with so many anecdotes, references and a welter of suitable minutiae. Here are beds where you give birth, beds where you die (half of us in hospital ones, though, and not our own as most would hope), and beds that weren't even in what we think of as bedrooms. Oh, and sleeping bags. This glory of riches is wonderful, but noticeably repetitive, which is a shame. It's as if each chapter was a separate, high-falutin' essay of its own, and each had to present all the information relevant to each one, when a simple edit would have ironed all the commonalities out. But even with its high levels of erudition it's not high-falutin', for with its punning chapter titles it clearly speaks to the layman. It certainly spoke to me, and even if I had too much deja vu, I loved it. Four and a half stars.

Intriguing History. Fagan and Durrani do a superb job of showing the construction, uses, and activities associated with the humble bed throughout hisrory. Truly eye opening in so many ways, it really does bring to mind the quote about if something happens for just a couple of generations, people generally assume the thing has always been that way. Here, Fagan and Durrani do an excellent job of showing how the bed and its associated practices have changed throughout history, and in particular over the last couple of centuries. Truly amazing work, and very much recommended.

A good introduction to the activities human history has done from bed. Covers things from birth, business and other topics from across time and civilizations. Good start for those doing research surrounding this topic or an aspect of it.

A well written, well researched and fascinating history book. Even if the title seems to have some sexual innuendo this is a story of beds.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Thank you to Yale University Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very well-written, interesting and clever history of beds - who knew so much could be written with hardly a mention of what must occur to most people when they hear the phrase "what we did in bed"! I loved the way the author followed the historical development of how using beds evolved, and then all the various uses beds were/are put to.

Who knew so much could be written about staying in bed without much sexual content? This book is a well written history of people's relationship with their beds, and it's actually very interesting.

WHAT WE DID IN BED is an clever and erudite mico-history regarding humanity's use of the bed. Throughout human history, we have used the bed for far more than just sleeping. The book begins with an exploration of the earliest beds (nests in trees, perhaps?) and then explores the earliest surviving examples of beds. As a personal preference, I enjoy reading, writing, and eating in bed. Apparently, so did our ancestors throughout history! There are lots of fun and fascinating facts to learn within this book. It is a fast but also educational read. WHAT WE DID IN BED is perfect fans of CONSIDER THE FORK and A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN SIX GLASSES.

This is such an interesting history of the bed, where we wet to sleep and where. Once upon a time our beds were on wide tree branches, bed technology has come a long way since then. People have made beds wherever they were on reeds, on mats, in dirt, in hammocks. The bed had been a very public symbol of wealth where a family having a guest bed was considered well off, it had once been the place for courtiers of royalty to observe their monarchs, it had been shared among travelers when traveling, it has become the private space for rest and relaxation. This is a history of an object that we really don't think about but like all simple things it has had a varied, storied, complex history behind it.

What We Did in Bed is interesting and informative. It is a short book that is amusing for some, but is a bit dry. I would buy this as a gift.

I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book as soon as I received it. It wasn't very long at all but it had some just fun little pieces of history about how beds have evolved over the decades as well as had some really interesting stories about histories of people who did some interesting things (uh) in beds. I enjoyed it and it wasn't a detailed and dry book at all so I think it will hold the interest of more casual readers of history as well. I enjoyed it and will look for a physical copy come November to share with a friend I think will get a kick out of it. I don't think it will appeal to everyone. And again, it wasn't very long.