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The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Paperback – October 25, 2011

by Ian Mortimer (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,343 ratings
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Now in paperback, a literary time machine that takes readers into the sights, smells, and tastes of the fourteenth century—a book that is revolutionary in its concept and startling in its portrayal of humanity.

The past is a foreign country. This is your guidebook. A time machine has just transported you back into the fourteenth century. What do you see? How do you dress? How do you earn a living and how much are you paid? What sort of food will you be offered by a peasant or a monk or a lord? And more important, where will you stay?

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England is not your typical look at a historical period. This radical new approach shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived.

Through the use of daily chronicles, letters, household accounts, and poems of the day, Mortimer transports you back in time, providing answers to questions typically ignored by traditional historians. You will learn how to greet people on the street, what to use as toilet paper, why a physician might want to taste your blood, and how to know whether you are coming down with leprosy.

The result is the most astonishing social history book you’re ever likely to read: revolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail, and startling for its portrayal of humanity in an age of violence, exuberance, and fear.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 4
    Ian Mortimer’s Time Traveller’s Guides
  2. Print length
    352 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Touchstone
  5. Publication date
    October 25, 2011
  6. Dimensions
    6.13 x 0.9 x 9.25 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9781439112908
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1439112908
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“In this compelling volume, Mortimer transports his readers. . . . Gives readers a seamless sense of being there. . . . An impressive accomplishment, turning 600 years of history transparent to give 21st-century readers a clear view of medieval life.” –Publishers Weekly

“Mortimer addresses every aspect of medieval life, from the mundane to the bizarre. . . . Travel guides are designed to deliver helpful information about faraway places, but this one gets to the heart of a different time zone.” –The Washington Post

“Chock-full of surprises, this is exceptional social history, compellingly told; there should be ‘travel books’ like this for every century. Start reading, and you won't want to stop.” –Library Journal

"The endlessly inventive Ian Mortimer is the most remarkable medieval historian of our time." --The Times (UK)

About the Author

Ian Mortimer is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and was awarded the Alexander Prize in 2004 for his work on the social history of medicine. He holds a Ph.D. in history and a higher doctorate from the University of Exeter. He has penned five other medieval books, most recently the revolutionary study Medieval Intrigue: Decoding Royal Conspiracies. He has also worked for several archive and historical research organizations in the UK, where he lives with his wife and children. Visit Ian at IanMortimer.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1439112908
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Touchstone (October 25, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781439112908
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1439112908
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 0.9 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,343 ratings

About the author

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Ian Mortimer

Ian Mortimer

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Dr Ian Mortimer has been described by The Times newspaper as 'the most remarkable medieval historian of our time'. He is best known as the author of The Time Traveller's Guides: to Medieval England (2008); to Elizabethan England (2012); to Restoration Britain (2017); and to Regency Britain (2020). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and has published research in academic journals touching on every century from the twelfth to the twentieth.

He also writes in other genres. His latest novel, 'The Outcasts of Time', which takes place across the years 1348-1942, won the 2019 Winston Graham Prize for historical fiction. His first three novels, the Clarenceux Trilogy, set in the 1560s, appeared under his middle names, 'James Forrester'. In the year he turned fifty he wrote a memoir about the meaning of running, Why Running Matters (published in 2019).

He lives on the northeast of Dartmoor, in the southwest of England. For more information, see www.ianmortimer.com

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
3,343 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Christopher Beattie
5.0 out of 5 stars A professionally written and fascinating look into Medieval England.
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024
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Unlike a dry history book, Ian Mortimer puts you into the picture as a tourist visiting the remote time of Medieval England. The sights, sounds, and even the smells are vividly portrayed as you are given tips on where to say, how to get from place to place, and what you would expect at each place from the city to the small town centered around the market. Even the entertainment is described. For all time travelers or just those who wish they could be.
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Ronald Pompeo
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Way to Travel to Medieval England
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2012
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I recently read two books back-to-back about the Middle Ages; this one (The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England) and "Manners, Custom, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period". Even though I recommend reading both books, as a novice to medieval studies, I surprisingly found the "Manners, Custom, and Dress" book to be an overall more enjoyable read than this one, since the flow of information and simpler language used made it easier to comprehend what was being described.

About the enjoyable aspects of the "The Tme Traveler's Guide":
This book has an interesting approach. It transports you back into time as if you had stepped into a time machine and landed in 14th century England. As a result, rather than the book "narrating" about people, places and things, it explains what you are experiencing first hand with your own senses of sight, hearing, smell, etc.

In addition to basics such as food, clothing, and housing, this book went into more obscure areas too, such as how people dealt with Mother Nature's calling, before indoor plumbing and sewer systems had been invented. This is one subject hardly dealt with in other books, but one I had always wondered about.

The not-so-enjoyable aspects:
(1) the sections on law, legal issues, justice, etc. were dull (except for the part on punishments/torture, which made my eyes pop out and my stomach queasy);
(2) the fashion section was hard to understand because the author used the medieval names for the articles of clothing being described. As a result, I had no idea what the people were wearing because the names of Medival clothing were foreign to me;
(3) there was a considerable amount of academic and historical terms throughout, which I didn't understand. If I had had a more thorough background in medieval politics, customs and society, the book would have been a more enjoyable--and understable--read; and
(4) the story sometimes did not follow chronological (logical?) order, jumping from one year or time-period to another, and this, I felt, confused the story-line. ("Why is the author mentioning this, now?", I would ask.)

In conclusion, while I experienced a few pitfalls during my "travels" in this book, I still think this book is most definitely worthwhile to read to start you on the learning process about medieval England, letting you travel back in time in the comfort of your own home.

(You should take note that the Kindle edition has no illustrations, which would have helped tremendously in the fashion section, for example.)
17 people found this helpful
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Brian Driver
5.0 out of 5 stars Long live the King! (of medieval guides)
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2012
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I truly love the Middle Ages, and have read many books and texts about them...and this one is one of the very best.

Ian Mortimer, the author of "The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England," has created a Guide that is truly unique. It's written as if--you guessed it--you've traveled back in time and found yourself in a foreign land...Britain, in the midst of the Middle Ages. It's meant not only to review what made this period unique, but also to immerse oneself into that period to discover it from the point of view of those who lived it.

As Mortimer himself puts it:

"How did people greet each other...? What is their sense of humor like? How far away from home do individuals travel?" His hope is that such knowledge will make us not only understand the past better, but find out "what it's like to be human" in this era.

The chapters are written thematically. While the first few concentrate on subjects like "The Landscape" and "The People," the latter ones are more direct, like "What To Wear" and Where To Stay." Not only does this give us a rich diorama of the era, it is also extremely readable.

As aids to our understanding, Mortimer also provides charts, a fair amount of artwork (in color), and lists,..lots of lists. One list is all about "Ordinances"... a list of offences of the time and what their penalties were, including items like "No man shall play tennis...within the guild hall" or "No butcher may work in the city as a cook." Additional lists cover such items as "Household Inventories" of actual people, "Clothing Regulations," and "The Social Hierarchy."

What particularly sets this book apart though is not its lists or pictures or subject headings, however, but its thoroughness. You really do gain a sense that you are learning about specifics of the era, and finding out what you need to get around. In a sense--as the author tells you--you will be able to use this book as a "virtual reality" for travel from your own home to other locations.

Not only will you find out what your own home looks like--should you be a wealthy burgher or a commoner--but you will also be told how others will greet you when you knock on a door to, say, an inn--again, whether you are a member of nobility or a commoner. In the same vein, you will also be informed as to what you should expect from various courses of food in a peasant's home versus a nobleman's.

While being dined at a castle earns many pages of specificity, visiting a more humble home still manages to sound inviting: "After supper the householder will have his children sent to bed in the family bedchamber and will spend the evening talking with you beside the fire...Even in this poor light you will find his wife darning or stitching clothes for the family, squinting at her needlework."

The Guide also lets you know how to take care of yourself or others in matters of illness or surgery (even the plague or leprosy), how to handle various legal issues such as malicious arrest or even execution. (A WARNING...this next sentence might be disgusting:) You are also given the particulars of your own disembowelment, and how a skilled executioner will most likely enable you to witness your own entrails on fire before you die.

On a lighter note, you will also find out how to entertain oneself in local townships...be it wagering or playing a "ball and stick" game or seeing a performance or witnessing the spectacle of jousting. Or your needs might be loftier, such as reading pleasurable prose or poetry, or even taking part in a crusade.

Regardless, this book provides a very playful and knowledgeable look at the era, one that will enlighten your way, as well as "lighting" a path through what many used to think of as the "Dark Ages."
20 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Theo
5.0 out of 5 stars highly enjoyed
Reviewed in Spain on October 21, 2023
Verified Purchase
easy read, get a good sense of what life was like in the middle ages, high recommend
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lizethp
5.0 out of 5 stars Textura
Reviewed in Mexico on September 9, 2018
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Muy padre
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InfoJunk
5.0 out of 5 stars Informativ und trotzdem gut geschrieben
Reviewed in Germany on May 3, 2019
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Der Autor wartet hier mit einem profunden Fachwissen auf. Das Buch ist zwar in English und man sollte ein Wörterbuch bzw. ein Dictionary auf dem Smartphone daneben liegen haben, aber es ist trotzdem so einfach geschrieben dass man das Meiste auch versteht.

Wer bisher glühender Bewunderer des Mittelalters war und, wie ich, am liebsten auch dorthin gefahren wäre, wird hier auf den Boden der Realität zurückgeholt. Die Umgebungen, die Städte, Städtebau, Dörfer, die Menschen, die verschiedenen Klassen und die Rollenverteilungen, Brauchtüme, das Essen, Arbeit, Gerichtsbarkeit, Krankheiten, Hygiene, es wird schlicht und einfach kein Aspekt des Lebens ausgeklammert, alles und jedes welches Einfluss auf das Leben, das Denken etc. hat, wird hier anschaulich beschrieben.

Ich habe auf jeden Fall erst einmal Abstand davon genommen, eine Reise ins Mittelalter zu buchen, bei der Lektüre dieses Buches erkennt man auf einmal die ganzen Errungenschaften, die die Menschen seit dieser Zeit erlangt haben und diese Errungenschaften haben zum kleinsten Teil etwas mit Technik zu tun.

Auf jeden Fall ist es sicherer und behaglicher, sich so einen lebendigen Einblick in das Mittelalter geben zu lassen, wenn man gemütlich in seinem Sessel sitzt und gefahrlos eine Zeitreise dorthin machen zu können.

Dieses Buch, mit einem ungeheurem Fachwissen geschrieben, erlaubt einem das Abtauchen in eine ganz andere Welt, die dann doch auch die Grundlage für unsere jetzige Gesellschaft ist und sonderbarerweise ist man, wenn man das Buch nach einem Kapitel aus der Hand legt, dann doch wieder super froh, dass man in der Gegenwart lebt.

Vielleicht sollte man auch denjenigen die meinen dass wir heutzutage alles "kaputt" machen und die Vorstellung einer idyllischen und beschaulichen Vergangenheit haben, dieses Buch empfehlen damit sie merken, wie angenehm und auch besser es dann doch heutzutage ist, bzw. vielleicht eher, wie beschwerlich und unangenehm es damals war....
4 people found this helpful
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Helen
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read that takes you back in time!
Reviewed in Italy on May 5, 2018
Verified Purchase
I bought this book to help me with research for my next novel, and I loved it. It has everything you need to know about what it was like to live in medieval times, explained clearly and in an interesting way. You won't fall asleep reading this, if only all history books could be as much fun to read! Highly recommend, even if you're not doing any research!
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Brings the 14th century to dynamic life.
Reviewed in Australia on April 25, 2021
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The humanising focus on aspects of everyday life and historic changes makes this an entertaining PLUS an educational experience. If history had been taught like this more often then l think more people would seek it out. Each chapter covers a different general category of daily life, eg. clothing, food, medicine, travel, etc. The scholarship and the facts underpinning each of the chapters is incorporated into a narrative framework which encourages the reader to imagine themselves in that situation, or place or event. This is a really clever way to actively engage the reader.
I enjoyed this book so much that l will purchase and also am looking forward to reading the Regency period one.
One person found this helpful
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