The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England

Once again Ian Mortimer makes my list. Because I am not a historian, I have a hard time researching when the prose is so dry it puts me to sleep. Mortimer really does make me feel like a time traveler. In every chapter I find myself in a medieval inn; enjoying a shave or suffering a bloodletting; dancing carols and playing strange musical instruments; marveling at the big, bad knight who rhapsodizes over the fragrances of his favorite flowers. (A detail I used in one of my historicals.) I particularly love Mortimer's chapters dealing with the medieval character--yet another reminder… show more.

I have read a lot of history and archaeology books and more often than not they can be a little dull, dry and in some cases work better than a sleeping tablet.

Not with this book, here you learn about parts of medieval England you just wouldn’t think about, written from a more personal point of view its less about political stuff like kings, queens, and those pesky archbishops and much more on the practicalities of living in medieval England.

Would you know what to eat, wear, or where to go to the toilet? Would you know how to address… show more.

When creating a scene, my internal dialogue consists of some form of the following: Remember, farm animals were way smaller; hedges were not ubiquitous while music pretty much was; catching butterflies with nets and blowing soap bubbles was a favorite childhood pastime; and hey, why not have my knight stop to smell the flowers followed by weaving his love a garland? While our ancestors were sometimes very like us, in other ways both their actions and thought processes seem inexplicable. Which is what makes Ian Mortimer’s charmingly written and informative guidebook an indispensable part of my library. 

Ian’s book was spot on. Everything you imagine the middle ages to be is brought to life through this brilliant and sometimes amusing read. Ian dives into the dreadful living conditions of the time and gives you an uncanny look at the middle ages. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in how people lived during the middle ages!

This book really did fulfill the title! It helped me travel back in time to the 1300s in England. I felt like I was there and engaging all my senses, learning how it felt, tasted, sounded, looked, and smelled. The details were thorough and helped me write my fictional time travel book more realistically.