American Lucifers

Jeremy Zallen is assistant professor of history at Lafayette College.

"American Lucifers is a methodologically ingenious, elegantly written labor history of the light-generating industries that preceded the electric light. . . . Its incisive, empathetic investigation into the daily lives of the workers who bore the costs of technological innovation makes it a unique, revelatory, and highly memorable study of the profoundly transformative effects of lighting technologies."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History "American Lucifers warrants great acclaim. . . . [For] the expert craft of Zallen's history, engaging writing, extremely thorough source work . . . and the message it so clearly delivers: that when we literally illuminate our own spaces of experience, we also illuminate a crucial opportunity to make the world's socioeconomic systems more equitable and more sustainable."--North Carolina Historical Review "An ambitious book. . . . handsomely produced, with illustrations and maps, and will appeal principally to history buffs."--Library Journal "As we face another great transition, from fossil fuels to alternative energies, Zallen's narrative is timely--echoing in the high human and environmental costs of dramas playing out in Nigerian oilfields and the smog of Indian cities."--David E. Nye, Nature "Conventional histories of lighting celebrate technological progress, but Zallen's inspired and original study illuminates some darker corners of American history. . . . American Lucifers provides a powerful analysis through its copious information, but Zallen's imaginative and extensive use of primary sources makes it exceptionally captivating."--Ambix "Readers of Jeremy Zallen's superb history of illumination will gain a new appreciation for the origins of artificial light. . . . Zallen uses clear, often poetic, prose to focus on the labor required to bring illumination into the modern era, with a healthy respect for the sweat and suffering that process required."--Journal of Southern History "Written clearly, with dashes of literary flair. . . . The connections it draws . . . show lighting to be a useful frame within which to understand how global trade, regional commerce, and professional and domestic labor were coordinated in the century or so before electrification."--CHOICE "Zallen has written a truly innovative book that will surely have scholars and lay readers alike burning the candle at both ends."--Technology and Culture "Zallen writes beautifully. He tells his story through vividly worded, richly researched tales. . . . To remind us . . . that every part of economic life connects us to the work of others, and that work can be very grim and very dark indeed."--The New England Quarterly