The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century

I loved this book, I was reading it while taking a Survey of English Literature class and I was able to inform the teacher on some of the details of medieval life while reading that era. It has so much of the smaller details of life that are not taught but help give you that well-rounded view. It started off a little slow but do not get dismayed because it goes in a specific order to keep your journey on the right track. This is a must read for any medieval era enthusiast.

In THE TIME TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND, Ian Mortimer takes readers on a voyage to fourteenth-century England. Exploring the time period as if it were a foreign country rather than dry facts in a dusty textbook, Ian Mortimer imagines the past as virtual history, a history that is happening. Ian Mortimer extends the approach of architectural historians who recreate images of buildings as they were during the period to cover more topics, especially those topics that a visitor would need to know, much like tourist guides for visiting foreign cultures. Ian Mortimer's approach looks not only at the evidence but also the humanity of people living during the time. Ian Mortimer combines "what if" scenarios in which outcomes are not necessarily guaranteed with an awareness of our perspectives and life today in order to pinpoint those areas of medieval life that clearly differ from our own routines, values, and expectations. As visitors to a fourteenth century present before us, we ask different questions than would someone viewing the period from a safe, comfortable distance. Consequently, the questions we ask and the answers we discover have a vitality sometimes lacking in traditional history. THE TIME TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND examines topics a time traveler from our century would want and need to know for a successful visit to fourteenth century England. Chapters include the following topics: the landscape, the people (with a look at the roles of fighters, workers, the religious and more), the medieval character, basic essentials, what to wear, traveling, where to stay, what to eat and drink, health and hygiene, the law, and what to do. Ian Mortimer gives a perspective to the landscape that allows a reader to visualize the world before them. The chapter on medieval character delves into such sub-topics as violence and cruelty, the sense of humor and a warrior's love of flowers, education and more. Basic essentials covers topics any time traveler (or scholar) would need to know such as languages, dates, measuring time, units of measurement, manners and politeness, shopping, money, and more. Each chapter takes a reader deeper and deeper into the culture of the time, building upon the other so that by the end of the book, a reader feels one has visited the time and culture. Each chapter presents a new look at topics, even for those well-versed in the literature or history of the period. Chapters on health and hygiene and the law bring a particularly powerful vision and insight into the period. No matter how much one has studied the plague, Ian Mortimer's presentation of it and other diseases makes a reader feel the devastation from the perspective of people living through the event much more than facts and figures. Ian Mortimer focuses on the cultural differences between our time and that of fourteenth century England. Mortimer's examination of medieval England disperses modern stereotypes of "the Dark Ages" as a time

There are so many wonderful uses for this witty, good-natured, and lovingly assembled compendium of all things "medieval" that I scarcely know where to begin. Anyone who is about to plunge into the literature, politics, culture, or sociology of the 1300's for their school assignments or just for their own pleasure will find both the material and the writing so engaging as to be addictive; it will be with great sorrow when you finish the book. That is, until you realise that NOW you can read Chaucer with an enhanced confidence and giddiness that the human heart does not change. And for those who love medieval mysteries (try Paul Doherty, if I might suggest just one author) this fascinating "tour" by Mortimer will answer (perhaps) many a question and reassure the reader that no, their mystery writers have not exaggerated the challenges and curiosities of the fourteenth century! For those who prefer a non-fiction analysis of some political situation (with monarchy or wars or even the repercussions of the Great Plague) even here this book will provide an immediate and provocative feel for the whole environment. For myself I was smitten with his initial suggestion: approach the century and its people from 1300 moving forward, forget what you thought you knew, what myth and maybe Hollywood have told you, and instead, sit back and let Mortimer steer you through the countryside and cityscape of the unfolding century with all the ease of a meandering skiff as it floats down a river on a warm afternoon. This book is a rare treat indeed. Mortimer wrote this compilation as a detailed survey but it is never burdensome; his humor is often pointed, but never embittered or crude. Mortimer's manner is respectful and he has a charming felicity with language. And, if you still need additional incentive to get this book, the reader may dip in and out of various chapters without doing irreparable harm to the flow or understanding of the whole. Now ... how do I convince this author to do the same for the 15th century?!

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England is just that--a comprehensive traveler's guide to the fourteenth century in England. It covers pretty much anything and everything of day-to-day life, from the people you would have encountered, to the clothes you would have worn, to the kind of medical treatment you would have received if you had gotten sick, and much, much more. There's a lot here I already knew, but a lot I didn't--for example, that pockets were introduced during this century, as were differentiated shoes (left foot versus right, in other words). It's details like this, that you wouldn't normally think are important, that really are important in daily life. At first, the present-tense writing threw me off; but, as Mortimer says in his introduction, once you begin understanding history as happening rather than as has happened, then you'll better understand the complexities of fourteenth-century life. As the back of the book paraphrases LP Hartley, "the past is a foreign country, they did things differently there..." It's not that things were bad or wrong with the way that people lived six hundred years ago; it's just that people back then had different ways of seeing the world. Take, for example, the chapter on health and medical practices. It's not that medical physicians and surgeons (two different things, up until the 17th century) were ignorant in the sense that we mean it; it's just that they used different areas of knowledge to make a diagnosis and treat a patient. Doctors and surgeons in the fourteenth century probably had as much knowledge as doctors do today--they just used things such as astronomy, religion, and blind faith in their practice. I wish the author had focused a little more on religion and education, however. In all, though, a fascinating study of medieval social life, and unlike any other history book I've read (and much more enjoyable than most). I read this book straight through, but it can also be used a a reference book, to dip into from time to time.

Ian Mortimer's "The Time Travelers' Guide to Medieval England: A Guidebook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century" is a highly detailed look at life in England several centuries ago, related as if the reader were preparing for an actual journey back in time, studying on what to do (and how to survive) in a vastly different world. The benefits of such an approach are large. The author explains: "As soon as you start to think of the past happening (as opposed to it having happened), a new way of conceiving history becomes possible ... You start to gain an inkling as to why people did this or that, and even why they believed things we find simply incredible." The book covers virtually every aspect of life and death in Fourteenth century England, from the highest royalty to the lowest peasant (peasants, Mortimer explains, did not call themselves "peasants", but instead would have conceived themselves as members of some subset of society as "rustici" -- countrymen -- or "villani" -- villeins). Social hierarchies, food, clothing, housing, law and order, medicine, travel ... Mortimer seemingly touches upon and describes every aspect of life. He deliberately limits himself to a single century as "medieval" actually covers too extensive a slice of time for accurate summary and even so the author frequently addresses changing behavior over the course of that single century. A vast amount of information is conveyed in an engaging, lively style. In the very first chapter Mortimer emphasizes his approach to social history by submerging the reader in an ocean of sensory imaginings, descrbing sights and sounds and especially smells of a visit to a medieval English city. And repeatedly thereafter the author reinforces this "you are there" experience. All in all, this is an excellent and highly vivid look at a past era.

I have been to medieval England by immersion in the writing of Ian Mortimer. The smells, the sites, the attitudes of the time have surrounded me. As the reader you become part of the fabric of the place. His writing leads the you through the homes and halls, the churches and landscape of the time. The reading is easy, not cold and academic, but warm and compassionate. For those of us that have only experienced a brief, school based, introduction to history, life in medieval England was probably described as 'nasty, brutish and short'. This is far from a complete picture. Ian brings the time and place to life. You will find that the book not only expands your understanding of the time, but when you finish reading it, you may be left with the feeing that you are leaving old friends behind.