About the Author

Yale-educated historian Elizabeth P. Archibald is an instructor at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins. Her research focuses on the history of education from antiquity to the Renaissance, as well as the history of books. She launched the blog Ask the Past in 2013.

Reviews

"Comical and illuminating."--Johns Hopkins Magazine

"Lucky for her readers, Archibald has a wry wit and keen eye for absurdity. Some of the book's advice makes the past feel very far away...but much of it reminds of what we have in common with our ancestors, who also worried about attracting lovers, raising children, and killing bedbugs (the secret is gunpowder)."--Boston Globe