Lost Worlds: How Our European Ancestors Coped with Everyday Life and Why Life Is So Hard Today - Hardcover

by Arthur E. Imhof (Author)

Publication of Lost Worlds introduces to English-speaking readers one of the most original and engaging historians in Germany today. Known for his work in historical demography, Arthur E. Imhof here branches out into folklore, religion, anthropology, psychology, and the history of art. Rooted in Imhof's belief that we need stability and values that transcend the individual, Lost Worlds inspires us to examine our own ways of seeing the world.

Back Jacket

Publication of Lost Worlds introduces to English-speaking readers one of the most original and engaging historians in Germany today. Known for his work in historical demography, Arthur E. Imhof here branches out into folklore, religion, anthropology, psychology, and the history of art. Imhof begins by reconstructing the world and worldview of Johannes Hooss, a farmer in a remote Hessian village. The everyday life of such a man was particular to his region; he spoke a local dialect and shared a regional culture. By exploring the various systems that made sense out of this circumscribed existence - astrology, the folklore of the seasons, and Christian interpretations of birth, confirmation, marriage, and death - Imhof expands the book into a speculation on why life in the late twentieth century can seem meaningless and difficult. Rooted in Imhof's belief that we need stability and values that transcend the individual, Lost Worlds inspires us to examine our own ways of seeing the world.

Author Biography

Arthur E. Imhof is Professor of Historical Demography and Social History at the Friedrich-Meinecke-Institute, the Free University of Berlin, and has published a number of widely praised books in German. Thomas Robisheaux is Associate Professor of History at Duke University. He is the author of Rural Society and the Quest for Order in Early Modern Germany.