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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
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
*singing* Go on down to Londontown in 1348….it’s great! And it stinks! And a horse is very expensive.
This was actually a Christmas gift to my husband, but I made off with it on Boxing Day. This book could have been designed for me. My favourite aspect of history is the sociological/day-to-day part, and the whole idea of this is to give an impression of what you'd step into (usually literally), if you opened the door of your time machine to England in the fourteenth century. The one problem I had with this book is that it's clear from Ian Mortimer's language that he's assuming the time traveller and those encountered on the journey are overwhelmingly male. He does address the lives of women, but when he uses the word "people", let's face it, in most cases he means men. I don't think a female writer would make that assumption. In fact, an interesting reading companion to this book might be A Distant Mirror, Barbara W. Tuchman's take on life in Europe in the fourteenth century. This might be an opportune time to re-read that....
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This book definitely has its problems. Some of the reviews here have pointed out the authors views on women, and he does a very poor job of hiding his feelings behind the guise of “Those were the times folks.”
But I have a sinking gut feeling watching some of my favorite old shows when a joke hits wrong, or the social commentary isn’t quite appropriate. I still love those shows, and I really found this book to be incredibly engaging, and an amazing digestible resource for newbies to the medieval world (that’d be me, I’m the newbie).
It’s interesting and informative enough to be a serious look at 14th century England, but approachable enough that just about anybody can read it.
But I have a sinking gut feeling watching some of my favorite old shows when a joke hits wrong, or the social commentary isn’t quite appropriate. I still love those shows, and I really found this book to be incredibly engaging, and an amazing digestible resource for newbies to the medieval world (that’d be me, I’m the newbie).
It’s interesting and informative enough to be a serious look at 14th century England, but approachable enough that just about anybody can read it.
Read for AP Euro class.
I found it to be tough to get through. It gave tons of pointless details which there was no way I was going to remember. I get it - it's for the evidence - I mean this is a book on history. But I think this might be more enjoyable as an audiobook than a book. It's like listening to a meditation guide asking you to visualize this and visualize that.
I found it to be tough to get through. It gave tons of pointless details which there was no way I was going to remember. I get it - it's for the evidence - I mean this is a book on history. But I think this might be more enjoyable as an audiobook than a book. It's like listening to a meditation guide asking you to visualize this and visualize that.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
A really neat concept, and worth the read if you want to take a deep dive into medieval culture. It is very content-dense and explains some rather unsavoury aspects of medieval life and practices in vivid detail (a bit too much for me).
I definitely learned something, and would probably learn more with another read-through.
I definitely learned something, and would probably learn more with another read-through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, War
Moderate: Sexual content