Ian Mortimer

Ian Mortimer has taken me on yet another journey, and what a journey it was. The non-fiction books of this series feel like an adventure – of course they do, because I am traveling back in time!

“the past is best viewed close up and personally - in contrast to traditional history, which emphasises the value of objectivity and distance.”

The setup is familiar from the earlier books: descriptions of cities, people, their way of life, what to wear, what to eat and drink, how to travel, where to stay, what laws to obey, how much to pay for things.

This is more than a guidebook, of course. Ian Mortimer’s writing is intimate, humane, at times sarcastic; there is always sympathy for our ancestors, they are neither weird nor ignorant, they just are.

Second half of the 17th century in Britain is a time of great change: the beginnings of rationalism and science as we know it, there is a sense of wonder and discovery; the end of an absolute monarchy and the first imaginings of the social contract. With the restoration of monarchy and the fall of the Puritanical Commonwealth, people can go to the theatre again, listen to music more freely… and not get executed for adultery. (Hmmm… why does this sound familiar to me, a traveler from the 21st century?)
But women still get burned alive for killing their husbands – because it’s treason, even if he is an abuser and it was self-defence. And they hang students that ridicule religion after too many drinks.

This book is full of details, details, details. I think every reader will find things to love and be especially interested in, especially moved by. These are mine, in no particular order:

📖 The descriptions of London are lovely. The rebuilding after the Great Fire of London in 1666 was impressively fast. Also, this was then people in Britain started getting fire insurance. (Sensible.)

Here is some advice on how to preserve your inn while the rest of the town is on fire:
“He told me, by the help of some friends hoisting some hogsheads of beer out of the cellar and, being very diligent to cool those parts of the house that were very hot, they did preserve it.”
“Surely this is one of the greatest events in the annals of British fire-fighting,” comments the author.

📖 The child mortality rates are simply staggering. “37 per cent of all the children born in England do not make it to the age of fifteen.”

📖 The inequality between the sexes “amounts to sexism on a scale that you will barely be able to countenance.”
And legally, as a woman you can’t do anything at all unless your husband/father/some other dude with power over you says yes.
“What matters is that the law justifies the husband’s actions against his wife so completely that it makes him arrogant and uncompromising.”
Still, contemporary travelers note that women in Britain have more liberty than in other countries - they go places! by themselves! Amazing, right? And women begin to act on stage; to earn money as professional painters; to publish more books and plays.

📖 Servants:
“If you want to know what life in service is like for many women, think in terms of Cinderella’s daily grind of scouring, scrubbing, washing and polishing from before dawn to late at night - and having to comb the lice out of the hair of a man who beats you and forces you to have sex with him.”

📖 POC:
The concept of racism as we understand it does not exist yet. There are preconceptions about POC that are “deeply unpleasant”. I’m guessing that people are aware that there is slavery overseas that is financing their fine lifestyle, but they’d rather not think about it – and besides, they are not “like us.” There is debate on whether slaves should be considered free once they come to England (since there is no slavery there officially). What about those POC that have been baptised? Surely it’s wrong if a Christian enslaves another Christian. Interestingly enough, there are recorded legal cases with judges thinking like that, so that slaves are freed. Yes, sometimes there is hope for humanity...

📖 Don’t get me started on duels! It’s a miracle there were any earls and dukes left alive in Britain.

📖 Law and justice:
“If it is fairness you want from your legal system, I suggest you visit a period of history that prioritises the person over property, reality over religion, science over superstition, equity over influence and fairness over the process of law. In finding such a time, I wish you luck.”

📖 Beauty products:
“Puppy-oil” is distilled dog. No, I am not kidding. Girls, you are supposed to put that on your face and you’ll be beautiful. No comments.

📖 Cool new stuff:
Champagne! Fountain pens! Public transport! Coffee houses! Tea! First museums! (The museum geek says: this section should have been longer.) First public concerts!

This review is getting way too long, time to wrap up… I am kind of sad that I only have one book left in this series.

I love the closing lines of the last chapter, as the time traveler prepares to go to bed: “But therin lies a question: what does the day ahead hold? So many things, so many.”

And this last from the author:
“If you listen carefully at the door to the past, what you hear most - above all the distant sounds of daily life and death - is the beating of the most unstoppable heart.”… (mehr)

This is a really worthwhile read. Mortimer knows his stuff, and presents us with a vivid account of life in 14th century England. He invites us to explore daily life in town and country, among the rich and the poor. We spend the night with a yeoman, with a noble family, sharing their food, their home comforts and customs. We experience the difficulties of travel from one end of the country to another at a time when most people's entire lives were lived within a few miles of where they were born. We journey on foot, or horseback, even by sea and face doing so without decent infrastructure, maps, and without feeling particularly safe. The meals we eat are unfamiliar, as is our medical treatment. We face the realities of day to day life in a society very different indeed from our own, and finish the book with a much clearer appreciation of what such a life might have been like. It's a book amusingly written with a light touch. This is no dry text book. Read and enjoy.… (mehr)

The Time Travelers guide to Medieval England is superb. I read tons of History, particularly English History and this was an incredible change of pace. There is so much in this book that honestly caught me by surprise. It is humorous, to the point and very well researched. I learned names of things I had no idea about regarding food, musical instruments and while I thought I was fairly familiar with the Medieval Legal system and punishment it did not take long to realize that there was much I was missing.
In direct contrast to “A World Lit Only By Fire” By William Manchester (which I found horrendous). Mortimer instills in us that the inhabitants of the 13th century were people just like us. They lived, they survived and died. It was their world and they were no different than us because they used what they had and did what they needed to. They were not savages as Manchester put it. The author of this book makes it clear that we cannot hold ourselves above them because we appear to be more civilized. Instead we should take a moment to put ourselves in their shoes and this will give us a newfound respect for them and make us appreciate what we have that much more. In 800 years someone will be saying the same thing about us. Well written and easy to read this book is also a love letter to Chaucer, who is referenced numerous times. I will surely be reading the rest of this series.… (mehr)