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566 reviews for:
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
Ian Mortimer
4.02 AVERAGE
566 reviews for:
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
Ian Mortimer
4.02 AVERAGE
funny
informative
I really enjoyed this - it's somewhere between social history and living history, and it works REALLY well.
The book covers many of the facets of day-to-day life - clothing, food, living arangements, social harmony, entertainment, employment - and looks at all three 'estates' - those who fight, those who pray, and those who work, while acknowledging and addressing the fact that even by the 14th century, these don't cover everyone - where do wealthy merchants fit, for example. And all men (from villeins on up) are expected to have a bow and be able to use it for the defense of the realm, by royal decree, so what does that do to 'those who fight'?
I'm looking forward to reading his guide to Elizabethan England!
The book covers many of the facets of day-to-day life - clothing, food, living arangements, social harmony, entertainment, employment - and looks at all three 'estates' - those who fight, those who pray, and those who work, while acknowledging and addressing the fact that even by the 14th century, these don't cover everyone - where do wealthy merchants fit, for example. And all men (from villeins on up) are expected to have a bow and be able to use it for the defense of the realm, by royal decree, so what does that do to 'those who fight'?
I'm looking forward to reading his guide to Elizabethan England!
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This was a great description of the little details of life in the Middle Ages that are usually left out or grossly misrepresented in Fantasy novels/movies and Ren Faires.
funny
informative
slow-paced
Found at a used book sale. Thought it was a find...as I had heard of it.
Also thought it would be presented as a brisk, but detailed and immersive adventure in its telling of nonfiction.
It is not. It is, despite it's title, a rather dry college textbook in its prose.
Imagine someone's thesis for a PHD. Then put the words, "You invent a time machine. The gears whirl, the lights flash and suddenly you are there! And you realize that..." in the front of it all...and changed nothing else about that kind of writing for the duration.
That's this book. Dissapointed.
Also thought it would be presented as a brisk, but detailed and immersive adventure in its telling of nonfiction.
It is not. It is, despite it's title, a rather dry college textbook in its prose.
Imagine someone's thesis for a PHD. Then put the words, "You invent a time machine. The gears whirl, the lights flash and suddenly you are there! And you realize that..." in the front of it all...and changed nothing else about that kind of writing for the duration.
That's this book. Dissapointed.
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
AMAZING!!
Didn't realize was audio book - don't like that format.
A very novel approach to the historical text. Mortimer gets it right when he takes the approach of the travel guide: history is impossible to know fully, even if just two hours ago. Taking the tact of the travel guide gives the most well-rounded view of a place we will actually never be able to visit and makes it approachable. I would love to read more books of this cant about other centuries.
All this taught me is that I would be killed or violated within a few hours of being around Medieval English people.