Sasha Handley is a British historian, specializing in the early modern social and cultural history of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. She is best known for her research on history of British sleeping habits, and her book, ''Sleep in Early Modern England'', was shortlisted for the

Wolfson History Prize The Wolfson History Prizes are literary awards given annually in the United Kingdom to promote and encourage standards of excellence in the writing of history for the general public. Prizes are given annually for two or three exceptional works ...

in 2017.

Education and career

Handley completed her graduate education - a Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. - in history, from Warwick University. She is currently a professor of early modern history at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, where she teaches early modern British, European, and global history. She has received fellowships from the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

, the

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts an ...

, and the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hous ...

. She is a member of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

, and chairs a collaborative seminar in early modern history with historians across

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Research and publications

Handley's research studies early modern social and cultural history in the

, with a particular focus on healthcare and sleep, supernatural beliefs, emotions, and

material culture Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects creat ...

. In 2016, Handley published ''Sleep in Early Modern England'' (Yale University Press), a book documenting social practices and medical research into sleep in early modern England. The book was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in 2017, with the judges describing it as a "... book of sheer originality and novelty" that tackled a subject previously neglected in research. It was also shortlisted for the Longman-History Today Book Prize in 2017. In 2018, the book won the inaugural Social History Prize awarded by the

Social History Society ''Cultural and Social History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering cultural and social history published by Routledge five times a year on behalf of the Social History Society. It was established in 2004. Abstracting and indexing The jo ...

. Other research by Handley has addressed histories of the supernatural in Europe and England. Handley has also collaborated with the National Trust to engage the public with research on the history of sleep, including guiding tours at

Ham House Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...

, a 17th-century historical preserved home, to teach visitors about historical sleep habits and practices, and is collaborating on a similar project at

Little Moreton Hall Little Moreton Hall, also known as Old Moreton Hall, is a moated half-timbered manor house southwest of Congleton in Cheshire, England. The earliest parts of the house were built for the prosperous Cheshire landowner William Moreton in about ...

. As a visiting fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Handley has also worked on the cataloging of early modern objects such as bedsheets. Handley has also contributed to programming on BBC Radio 4, concerning sheets and sleeping on a podcast titled 'The History of Stuff' and on the history of sleep, for a podcast hosted by

Sarah Dunant Sarah Dunant (born 8 August 1950) is a British novelist, journalist, broadcaster, and critic. She is married with two daughters, and lives in London and Florence. Early life Dunant was born in 1950 and raised in London. She is the daughter of Da ...

, titled, 'Sleep: A Third of Human History'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handley, Sasha Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick 21st-century British historians British women historians Historians of the British Isles Year of birth missing (living people)