[3][5] Bogard ultimately finds a Bortle level 1 environment: a remote area so perfectly free of stray light that, with eyes fully adapted, the Milky Way casts noticeable shadows.

Rather than suggesting a return to the completely unlit nights of centuries past, however, he argues for a careful consideration of where and how artificial light is deployed, in order to provide sufficient nighttime illumination for safety, without creating glare and other unwanted effects.

[6] Telegraph reviewer Stephanie Cross wrote that "the appeal of Bogard’s book derives not just from his often wide-eyed enthusiasm for his subject, but also from the constellation of characters he encounters on his journeys into the night.

"[6] In The Guardian, novelist Salley Vickers wrote that "Bogard sets about his investigations with an energetic purposiveness and enterprise," but complained that "the book comes to seem a little thin, moving too rapidly from one chatty anecdotal meeting to another.

"[5] The Wall Street Journal questioned Bogard's statements on the relationship between light and safety, and concluded ambivalently: "The End of Night delivers a forceful, if incomplete, critique of our overexposed world.