Beautifully written and packed with memorable and odiferous examples, Smell and the Past sensitizes readers to diverse olfactory methods and archives that have often been neglected by historians. Tullett makes a persuasive case for the importance of smell as an embodied encounter, a sense that realizes human and more-than-human relationships across the “molecular commons.”

Hsuan L. Hsu, Professor of English, University of California, Davis, USA

Smell and the Past is a provocative challenge to scholars thinking with or about olfaction and the past. Tullett pushes historians to use their noses, actually sniffing out new archives and sources, and offers helpful tips for anyone to get started.

Melanie A. Kiechle, Associate Professor of History, Virginia Tech, USA

From a 1968 Aston Martin car interior to nineteenth Japanese and Chinese incense clocks, Tullett has a flair for olfactory scene-setting – both though narrative vignettes and 'Olfactory Figures' (items to sniff as you read) as he constructs arguments for direct sensory engagement in historical research. A superb, accessible nudge for humanities scholars to simply follow their noses.

Kate McLean, Researcher and Creator of international smellmaps, University of Kent, UK