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The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England

A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century

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The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England

By: Ian Mortimer
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Summary

 Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat?

Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages.

The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail, and startling for its portrayal of humanity in an age of violence, exuberance and fear.

©2008 Ian Mortimer (P)2009 Isis Publishing Ltd Europe Great Britain Medieval Middle Ages England Thought-Provoking Funny Scary Royalty
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Critic reviews

"A jaunty journey through the 14th century, one that wriggles with the stuff of everyday life." ( Guardian)
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I really didn't know much about this period in history (I had very poor history teachers at school) and being a sci-fi fan the title appealed to me. There wasn't much more behind my decision to purchase this book than that.

What I got was a really well structured book taking me through everyday life and society of the 14th century - town planning, fashion, travel, food and drink, humour, battle and war, chivalry, family life, medicine and health, well every part of life. Also I found it interesting how things changed over 100 years.

I almost felt prepared for my time travel journey to 14th century England but think I'd like to listen to it again before going to make sure I'm aware of all the customs and have noted the hints and tips to make sure I'm not swindled.

I had trouble pausing this audio book as I didn't want to stop listening! This is a complete surprise as I wouldn't have considered myself a history fan before listening to this.

It is definitely the one I recommend most highly of all the books I've listened to so far.

Totally unputdownable - recommend 100%

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So many history books only focus on the major events in their given time. This book takes you down to the nitty gritty of every day life in Medieval England. It is well written and beautifully narrated. I would thoroughly recommend it.

Excellent and informative

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I cannot praise this book highly enough. It brought a period of history alive for me, and I had not even realised I was all that interested to begin with. I have bought the book to give as gifts for people who weren't sufficiently moved by my enthusiastic raving to go out and buy it for themselves - but I wish I could afford to buy them the audiobook.

Interesting, immersive and utterly engaging

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For a strange reason, the sample clip provided for you to preview this book, is an excerpt from the introduction. Whilst it does explain the concept of the book, I found it rather slow and ponderous, and somewhat off-putting. I am glad that I decided to purchase the book in spite of my misgivings about the sample clip. The book itself is excellent, and does what it says on the tin. The opening chapter is great, you really feel as if you are walking in to a medieval town, and the closest you are ever likely to get to time travel. The rest of the book follows in the same vein. I particularly liked the chapters on medieval travel, society, justice, monasteries and chivalry, and my favourite was on medicine, which was astonishing, funny and terrifying. There were a few chapters that I found a bit less interesting, a bit too much detail on clothing styles and shipbuilding techniques for my taste, but the overall standard was so high, that I have still given it 5 stars and would highly recommend it.

Don't be put off by the sample clip

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Whilst I'm interested in history, I almost exclusively read/listen to fiction so a non-fiction audiobook is a bit of a departure for me. This book has neither plot nor real characters to follow and I never would have thought clusters of facts about the medieval period and its people would hold my attention to the same extent as a good detective novel, but it does.

The listening experience is very like wandering round a museum, castle or stately home with an audio-guide, although rather than looking around at the various artefacts, your imagination supplies the view. A picture builds of daily life, the structure of society, attitudes towards different members, how fashions change over time and so on. It is fascinating.

Jonathan Keeble's narration is perfect.

A virtual museum

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