“In this fabulous alternative history of the modern world, the academic and ‘party historian’ Imogen Willetts looks at the last 500 years of civilisation through the sometimes blurry lenses of its after-dark scenes, with fascinating results . . . Its mix of historical research, critical theory and conversational references to pop culture makes for a bright and compelling read.”—Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian
“‘The once habitual ‘big night out’ has become an increasingly fringe activity,’ Imogen Willetts writes in Up All Night, her lively history of nightclubs through the ages . . . Up All Night is filled with examples of how nightclubs subverted social hierarchies and thrived in opposition to mainstream culture.”—Gioia Diliberto, Wall Street Journal
“An enjoyable romp through the history of nightlife . . . Up All Night spills over with colorful anecdotes from a mix of familiar and unfamiliar scenes . . . ‘We are not in a post-nightlife society,’ [Willets] declares, pointing out that disillusionment breeds innovation, that nightlife thrives in opposition to mainstream culture and has always shape-shifted with the times. We need to switch off our phones and return to fundamental human behaviors: fun, self-expression, connection after dark. It’s not a mark of failure, therefore, that reading Up All Night makes you want to put it down—if only to step out into the seductive, thrilling night.”—Telegraph
“A study of some of the world’s most celebrated or notorious kinds of night life is the perfect entree to delve in to the cultural history of a variety of times and places . . . So much of the history of night life is about class . . . Who faces consequences from a night gone awry, and who gets off scot-free?”—Maris Kreizman, The Maris Review
“Imogen Willetts takes readers out of their living rooms and into debauchery, diversion, drama, and dance halls . . . This is an enjoyable book, both for historians and for anyone who loves a night on the town.”—Oelwein Daily Register
“[Imogen Willetts] makes her impressive literary debut with this gloriously overstuffed and deliciously entertaining cultural history of nightlife around the world . . . A history full of brio and bluster and plenty of wonderful nocturnal stories.”—Booklist (starred review)
“In this spectacular debut, historian Willetts surveys 350 years of influential international nightlife scenes . . . Readers will relish this vivid and transportive night on the town.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Historian Willetts’ first book has an appealing premise and some surprising insights, the first of which is that the idea of going out at night for fun is a relatively new concept—matters of safety and public morality often proscribed the idea . . . From stop to stop, Willetts is an entertaining guide.”—Kirkus Reviews
“[A] sweeping chronicle of how humans have behaved—and misbehaved—when the sun goes down . . . and before it comes up again.”—The Media Tourist
“From Edo period Japan to Downtown Manhattan in the 70s, Up All Night is a euphoric whirlwind of characters and incidents, not unlike a great night out. But it also does the serious and important work of considering what nightlife means today, when it’s at a low ebb almost everywhere, and what it has always meant: liberation for those at the margins and an essential beat for us all.”—Ross Perlin, author of Language City
“What’s the nightlife goss? It’s all here babes! From witches in moonlight to 1980s East Village to Margate 2026, Up All Night covers a vast expanse of nightlife. The research and detail is sublime: the perfect celebration of the place where the best of life happens. Get your glad rags on: we’re going out out.”—Amy Zing, co-founder of queer club collective Sink The Pink
“Most party people can’t remember how their night started—Imogen Willetts digs all the way back to the seventeenth century. Her thoroughly researched history of nightlife gives us a fizzy chronology of fine partying, with an emphasis on the expression, rebellion and escape that clubs and bars have always provided. I hereby raise a strong toast to this book, which gives historical evidence that a mad mix of music, cocktails and people in our face will never go away.”—Michael Musto, legendary cultural critic and chronicler of New York
“A jaunty, jam-packed history of big nights out that revels in spectacle and theatricality, happiest when bringing the reader into spaces that have been transformed by imaginative special effects.”—Emma Warren, author of Dance Your Way Home
“A sparkling cultural history: original in conception, prodigious in scope and written in appropriately high style. Its procession of nocturnal scenes is immersive, intoxicating and full of surprises.”—Mike Jay, author of Psychonauts
“Meticulously researched and dangerously fun. Up All Night is so vivid and insightful, I needed a lie down afterwords.”—Jodie Harsh, author of You Had to Be There
“This revelatory history of going out explains how centuries of visionaries, outcasts, rich, poor—anyone looking for a good time, really—sung and danced and lived and wrote so much of humanity’s story under cover of darkness. It’s the sort of history they don’t teach in books, but now thankfully, that’s no longer a problem.”—Chris Payne, author of Where Are Your Boys Tonight?
“‘Going out’ is a concept I’ve always taken for granted as a constant of human life, but this brilliantly researched, breathlessly told history proves the Beastie Boys right: You gotta fight for your right to party. Like an incredible night on the town, Willetts’ narrative starts intriguingly and crackles more and more as it goes.”—Chris DeVille, author of Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion
Grove Press
