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Elizabeth L. Bradley

Elizabeth L. Bradley is the author of Knickerbocker: The Myth Behind New York and the editor of several of Washington Irving's works, including the new Penguin Classics edition of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

A yellow fever epidemic may have planted the seeds of inspiration for Washington Irving's iconic tale of the a headless horseman.

What “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Tells Us About Contagion, Fear and Epidemics

Washington Irving fled New York because of a yellow fever epidemic. Twenty-two years later, his classic story spoke to the chaos of his youth