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565 reviews for:
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
Ian Mortimer
4.02 AVERAGE
565 reviews for:
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
Ian Mortimer
4.02 AVERAGE
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
This book took me ages - not because it’s not interesting, it’s just very dense & packed full of detail.
But if you want to know about the day-to-day life of people in medieval England, this book is perfect for you.
But if you want to know about the day-to-day life of people in medieval England, this book is perfect for you.
"Somewhere in the 1370s, a beautiful young noblewoman is looking at Geoffrey Chaucer. She is teasing him, looking him in the eye, smiling and laughing. She will remain there like that, forever, just like the Canterbury pilgrims will forever be riding along together on their way to Canterbury, never to return. Men are gathered around the poet, listening as he describes the woman, her smiling laughter, so fresh and fair and free. They can tell he still feels the sadness of her death. What they hear is what we hear. We might interpret the lines differently, and we might misunderstand a few words [...] but some inkling of Chaucer's affection for this woman comes across to his audience - to them, to us, and everyone in between.
Whole centuries of us are there in the echoing hall of time, listening to Chaucer's poem. If Gower takes the story-teller's place, we may hear about the terror of the Peasant's revolt; if Froissart, the chivalric gloss of knightly warfare in France; if Langland, the injustice of the clergy; if the Gawain poet, his grief for his little girl, his pearl. And in listening we may offer all these men, women and children a degree of recognition: the sort of dignified memory and sympathy which today we offer those who gave their lives in war. "
6/5 if I could despite wishing there were more illustrations/diagrams, particularly when reading about musical instruments and ships. I really didn't expect this book of all books to make me emotional by the end (see quote above), but well worth the read and will be an invaluable piece of reference in the future.
Whole centuries of us are there in the echoing hall of time, listening to Chaucer's poem. If Gower takes the story-teller's place, we may hear about the terror of the Peasant's revolt; if Froissart, the chivalric gloss of knightly warfare in France; if Langland, the injustice of the clergy; if the Gawain poet, his grief for his little girl, his pearl. And in listening we may offer all these men, women and children a degree of recognition: the sort of dignified memory and sympathy which today we offer those who gave their lives in war. "
6/5 if I could despite wishing there were more illustrations/diagrams, particularly when reading about musical instruments and ships. I really didn't expect this book of all books to make me emotional by the end (see quote above), but well worth the read and will be an invaluable piece of reference in the future.
informative
informative
slow-paced
This is a history book with a difference. Written literally as a traveller's guide (with sections "what to see", "the people", "customs", "what to eat" etc), this is an informative yet funny look at our medieval ancestors.
Dr. Mortimer has a superb way with words and conveys his subject with passion without feeling dumbed down and with information without feeling heavy. First obstacle over then, as some writers... especially academics... used to writing for the academic press tend to be information heavy with very little regard for entertainment. On the other side, those who write for entertainment are less concerned with detail and are rarely as well versed in the subject as they like to pretend.
Mortimer, who has a BA and PhD from Exeter (and made me feel nostalgic in the process of showing how that city would have looked in the 14th century), is very keen to make the people in this book feel alive rather than as a bunch of statistics. He regales us with their sense of humour, typical jokes, the risque of plays and fiction, Chaucer and tales of Robin Hood. He described social structure, dispels myths about "serfdom" and delights with anecdotes of kings and lords, of abbots and of paupers.
But there is a serious side and Mortimer also adds the human element to the widespread tragedy that came with The Black Death and how deaths in WWI pale in comparison.
Just occasionally it slips away from travel writing and delves into pure history, but it isn't long before Mortimer regains his composure and gets back to writing as though for travellers. The only complaint is that at 290 pages (paperback) it really could have done with being longer.
See more book reviews at my blog
Dr. Mortimer has a superb way with words and conveys his subject with passion without feeling dumbed down and with information without feeling heavy. First obstacle over then, as some writers... especially academics... used to writing for the academic press tend to be information heavy with very little regard for entertainment. On the other side, those who write for entertainment are less concerned with detail and are rarely as well versed in the subject as they like to pretend.
Mortimer, who has a BA and PhD from Exeter (and made me feel nostalgic in the process of showing how that city would have looked in the 14th century), is very keen to make the people in this book feel alive rather than as a bunch of statistics. He regales us with their sense of humour, typical jokes, the risque of plays and fiction, Chaucer and tales of Robin Hood. He described social structure, dispels myths about "serfdom" and delights with anecdotes of kings and lords, of abbots and of paupers.
But there is a serious side and Mortimer also adds the human element to the widespread tragedy that came with The Black Death and how deaths in WWI pale in comparison.
Just occasionally it slips away from travel writing and delves into pure history, but it isn't long before Mortimer regains his composure and gets back to writing as though for travellers. The only complaint is that at 290 pages (paperback) it really could have done with being longer.
See more book reviews at my blog
emotional
informative
reflective
Most of the sections drew me in and I learned a lot through the whole thing, but the way that medieval women and their lives are described are so strange. And not in a good way. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
Found this really fascinating. I've studied and learned a lot of medieval England for many years and usually come across so many repeats of information I know and yet this book actually provided me with a lot of new information.
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
i remember reading it for a middle school history project and really enjoying it. thought it was written by that monty python member for AWHILE though