Sarah Pearsall Interview 29/10/19

We have a special edition of the podcast and seminar this week as we celebrate the release of our esteemed colleague Dr Sarah M.S. Pearsall’s new book, ‘Polygamy: An Early American History’. Dr Pearsall is University Senior Lecturer in the History of Early America and the Atlantic World here at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow at Robinson College. Here, she talks about her new book, the themes and historical episodes it explores and its relationship with her prior work, with second year PhD student Evelyn Strope. They touch on the importance of understanding polygamy as a constant presence in Early America, the consequences this has for our assumptions about the primacy of heterosexual monogamy in American life, and writing history that complements or challenges that of your own dissertation supervisor! Polygamy: An Early American History is published by Yale University Press and is available to order here https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300226843/polygamy If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, get in touch via @camericanist on Twitter or [email protected]. Spread the word, and thanks for listening! See you next week! Schedule for the Cambridge American History Seminar- https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/seminars/american-history-seminar