The article, ‘Have we lost sleep? A reconsideration of segmented sleep in early modern England’, Medical History, 67, 2 (2023), 91–108, by Niall Boyce is devoted to criticising my historical research pertaining to 1) the predominance of segmented sleep in the pre-industrial Western world and 2) the nineteenth-century transition of sleep to today’s pattern of continuous slumber that most people in modern societies seek to achieve, albeit not always successfully. This response addresses Boyce’s reinterpretation of the evidence and indicates whether this is erroneous or selective. My analysis thereby reasserts the predominance of segmented sleep in pre-modern Western Europe. Boyce’s assessment rests not on his original investigation of primary sources but on my first study relating to segmented sleep, published in 2001. Not least of the flaws of ‘Have We Lost Sleep?’ is its surprising inattention to my subsequent works that have expanded, modified, and bolstered this initial publication.

The International Society of Criminology, founded in Rome, Italy, in 1937, is the only worldwide organization in the field of criminology and criminal justice. Its objective is to generate a better understanding of the crime phenomenon on an international scale and translate that into appropriate policies, laws and interventions. Criminology has developed and thrived in the “Western” world, especially in the United States and other English-speaking northern countries. Recently, in step with reaffirming indigenous and local values and perspectives, a call for “regional” criminology expresses Asia’s approach and vision. This issue of the International Annals of Criminology illustrates the internationalization of the discipline and is an indication of its growing strength worldwide.