The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

Written by Ian Mortimer

Narrated by Mike Grady

What was it actually like to live in Elizabethan England? If you could travel to the past and walk the streets of London in the 1590s, where would you stay? What would you eat? What would you wear? Would you really have a sense of it being a glorious age? And if so, how would that glory sit alongside the vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine of the time?
In this book Ian Mortimer answers the key questions that visitor to late sixteenth-century England would ask, applying the groundbreaking approach he pioneered in his bestselling Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Mar 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781407497648

Ian Mortimer

Ian Mortimer is the author of the bestselling Time Traveller's Guide series. He is an experienced lecturer and public speaker and regularly appears at literary festivals around the country. He is also writes for the media.

Reviews for The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

[Ellie Macdonald · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’ve listened to this a few times and I love it more every time. There is so much detail in this book - from the buttons and jewels on clothing, to the recipes of puddings, and the accidental almost shooting of Queen Elizabeth I! Loved every minute of it. Really feels like you’re there!

[jerry2book-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reading this helps one understand Shakespeare. If one knows how the ordinary Elizabethean ate, drank, went to the toilet, traveled, worked, dressed, talked, etc. , then you can more fully understand the plays. It is best to read this in small doses since a lot of detail is provided. Sadly, King Henry VIII had to close all bathhouses as a result of the spread of syphilis which started in 1510. Thus, taking a bath was associated with catching a disease!

[jessicareadsthings · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really great overview of the Elizabethan era, but I often found myself wanting more information. It seemed like there was some assumption of familiarity with some of the places and people and objects, and that is a familiarity I do not possess. Perhaps because I'm American? I'm not sure.

Not to say there isn't a great deal of information, there is. And there are a lot more primary sources than I expected. My favorite were the protestations of the Puritan leader. His angry diatribes accurately describe a lot of the good parts of Elizabethan England. It seems it was a very cruel time to live though. Hate and suspicion were built into the culture. Being a woman and a Catholic, I wouldn't have made it very long, I'm sure. But it is still fascinating.

[pdcread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

To borrow the phrase from the famous advert, this does what is says on the cover. Mortimer whisks you back in time to Elizabethan England and takes you on a journey throughout that period, from the highest court in the lands to the grime and filth of the London metropolis.

He starts with the landscape of the time, different in many ways to today, but also familiar as landmarks that we see now are recent additions to the places that he visits. Then onto the people. The class system rules; the aristocracy and nobility are in charge and there are different layers from gentlemen, yeoman, and artificers and all the way down to the poor. He all carefully walks round the religions of the day, from the now official Protestant faith the the suppressed catholic faith.

Now equipped with the fundamentals he takes you thought the basic elements that you need to survive in that society, from writing to the language, shopping to measurements, the travel arrangements that you need to make and the clothes that you need to be seen wearing. When travelling you are advised how to avoid criminals and highwaymen, and details on the diseases of the time. Having reached your destination , then some entertainment will be on the cards, before knowing where to stay. You need to keep your wits about you, life is harsh for anyone in the age. Sealing anything with a value greater than 12d means that you could endue being hung!

Most of the time it is written as if you are accompanying the guide, but occasionally he takes a wider view. There is a wealth of information in this book. Almost too much to take in in one go. It is a book to be dipped into and savoured because every time you go back to it you will find something new.

[theelliemo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Perhaps my expectations were set too high, but I have to say, this book just was not as good as I hoped, or expected it to be. The majority of the book feels like a list of things a reasonably well-off visitor to Elizabethan England may observe or experience. I suppose it does as its title suggests; the majority feels like a travel guide, rather than a history book.

This results, though, in altogether far too many lists. Tell me the value of property left by the average middle class farmer on their death, by all means: I don't however, need a detailed list of what farmer A left, what farmer B left, what farmer C left, and so on.

I was also disappointed that the book seemed to focus on the wealthier end of society, talking of the poorer element only in terms of their most likely being vagabonds etc. having finished the book, I know what a courtier would eat, drink and wear, but know much less about what day to day life was like in the over-crowded parts of town.

Had I not been reading this for a book club, I suspect I would have taking a break from reading it, as I did reach a point where I was reading because I felt I had to, not because I wanted to.

But then I got to the last section, about the theatre. It may be that I found this section interesting because I have a latent interest in theatre, but I found this section of the book by far the most engaging. The description of the theatre, the playwrights, and in particular of Shakespeare, strikes me as being written by someone with a huge interest themselves on the theatre. The last 20 pages of the book are by far the most captivating.

[yarb_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not the immersive experience I'd been hoping for; you never really feel like you're there. The "Time Traveler" idea is a gimmick: basically Mortimer has just substituted present tense for past.This book has masses of detail, much of it trivial, and with all its factoids would be a good resource for a school project, say, or a ready-reference for someone writing historical fiction. But as a history book, it lacks a narrative and misses the big picture. You might say that Mortimer knows the price of everything in Elizabethan England, but the value of nothing.

[askelmore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Best for: Anyone wanting to learn more about the (interesting!) minutia and day-to-day bits of life during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign.In a nutshell: Author Ian Mortimer has researched source documents, including personal journals and diaries, as well as other sources to provide details about what it really meant to live in Elizabethan England.Worth quoting:“A woman may travel, pray, write, and generally go about her affairs just as freely as a man — as long as she is not married.”“But it is the mass production of books in English that prompts the shift to a more literary culture, not printing itself.”“At Christmas the wealthy are expected to entertain the less fortunate members of society.”Why I chose it: It seems my books choices this year are: I live in England now and want to learn; I don’t have a job and need to figure out what I’m doing with my life; and Other. This is the first one.Review:This book took me FOREVER to read, but that’s because the information is so interesting and densely packed. I only found myself skimming a few parts; the rest was just fascinating. I’ve always wondered about the daily life in past time periods; most of what I know comes from either a short bit in a world history text book, or from movies. This book was just what I wanted.Mr. Mortimer covers pretty much everything I’d wanted to learn about - he talks about the people, the role religion plays, the ethics and morals of the people, essentials (including money, which I still don’t really get), clothing, traveling, housing, food, illness, crime, and entertainment. Wherever possible, he includes details from diaries or letters written by someone who lived during this time.I found the food, illness, and clothing sections the most interesting, but generally skimmed the entertainment section mostly because I was getting anxious and just wanted to finish the book (I might go back and read it again later). If you’re into history, I think you’ll probably enjoy this one.

[vguy_6 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Bit like a Schott's Miscellany, collapses into list-making. Fails to fulfil its promise of bringing the era alive. Most interesting bit is the exploration of religion. Insightful observation that the break with Rome made people more religious, not less. But too much on the tortures for my taste. intriguing trivial fact that Naples was the second largest city in Europe at the time, London trailing in third place. What about Vienna or Madrid?

[mrgan-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully engaging and extremely detailed autopsy of Elizabethan society, covering every conceivable angle. In parts, it feels a bit like a reference book—loaded with specific figures of ale sold and lists of crimes committed—but what a reference it would make to someone who needed it. Outside of those brief excursions into dry data, it's all very readable stuff.

[dlmorrese · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book directly after reading Mortimer’s previous Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England. That one covered the 14th century. This one “represent(s) England as it existed between Elizabeth’s accession on November 17, 1558 and her death on March 24, 1603.” Two centuries separate the times they describe, and although there have been changes, the culture and the lives of most people seem remarkably (almost disturbingly) similar. It remains a period of superstition, oppression, injustice, poverty, violence, and disease. That’s in comparison to our point in space-time, of course. Two hundred years from now, people reading about our times may regard them much the same way. We may not draw and quarter criminals the way Elizabethans did, but many nations still execute them. Bearbaiting and cockfighting are no longer popular forms of entertainment, but our movies often portray fictionalized acts of violence that are no less brutal. Maybe we haven’t progressed as far as we might wish to believe.

But I digress. This book attempts to provide the reader with a feeling of what it might be like to visit Elizabethan England, and to the extent possible, I think it largely succeeds. Unlike the previous book, this one has no color plates or pictures or any kind. These would have been helpful, especially to illustrate the clothing of the well off, which sounds incredibly impractical, uncomfortable, and outrageously expensive. The primary function seems to be as displays of social status, but I suppose people still do that in our time with designer handbags and whatnot.

I’m tempted to go on about how histories like this demonstrate the foibles our species, and that we and our ancestors are much the same, subject to the same types of irrational beliefs and behaviors. But I won’t. I’m only writing a short book review, after all, and I have other things to do today. Still, I can recommend this book, not just for the history it provides about a specific time and place but also as a means for encouraging a higher perspective about the human species and its cultural evolution.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tells you a lot about what Elizabethan England was like. Fines for not attending church? Ouch!

[tonysomerset · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A delightful easy read. No knowledge of history required at all just an interest in former times. And what times our Elizabethan ancestors went through! Frequently quoting from contemporary records, just like the tweets you and I might leave behind, we are led through the wide range of concerns, you as a time traveller, might need to know about. Where to eat, what there is and how to eat without giving offence and son on. From social etiquette to avoiding causing distress or authority crackdown by inappropriate enquiries or loose comments. And what an exciting period to dip back into, a world of change, challenging new horizons over-turning all the past solid concepts. Social upheaval as the old order makes reluctant way for the new generations establishing themselves with their new found skills of reading, writing, exploring, making music and entertaining the crowd freed, to a degree from the shackles. If you belong to the favoured sectors of society. Woe betide you if you were a vagrant or an abused women!Despite all the obvious differences, what came across to me, is our immense debt we owe to these Elizabethans, the hardships they had to endure so that we could benefit. And how we share so many parallel social concerns thanks to their pioneering efforts. Well done them. No wish to live their life but so glad to have had this wonderful refreshing opportunity to dip my toe and and get a well-rounded feel for how they lived.

[julesbe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like its Medieval brother, this book is an easy, fun read. I skimmed over the parts about social organisation because they are a very general overview that any reader who is interested in the period's history is already familiar with.

But the chapters and sections dedicated to every day life were a joy, as it is a subject often ignored by uni courses and political history.

The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is the lack of images to help the reader picture what is being described. I struggled in the geography sections: having no sense of direction at all and not knowing London except trough reading, I was quite lost at what the city looked like.

[doingdewey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Have you ever wondered what people in Elizabethan England ate, what they built their houses out of, how they spoke, or what they did for entertainment? This book answers all of those questions and more, giving you a picture of daily life that many other history books leave out. Every aspect of Elizabethan life is covered in detail, with sections covering topics from religion to entertainment. Particularly unique is the inclusion of information on the lives of the middle and lower class.

I found the first chapter of The Time Traveler’s Guide a little hard to get through. The description of the landscape made me hold details about what was in all directions in my head at once and it made it hard to see the big picture. If you experience the same thing, don’t let that deter you! The rest of the book flew by. Topics described were easier to picture and I found the glimpse I got of every day life in Elizabethan England fascinating. I particularly liked that the author would say things like “if you went up and spoke to one of those peasants…” or “as you’re walking down the street, you’ll most likely see…”. It made me picture being there very vividly.

Another really nice touch was the inclusion of specific information known about real people. The statement “farmers kept most of their money invested in live stock” is far less interesting than hearing that “John Smith kept cows, sheep, and pigs that were worth most of his monetary value”. These examples made the information feel much more real, personal, and immediate. The direct quotes provided the finishing touch on the immersive experience this book provides. Some quotes were explained so well that humor transcended time, an impressive feat given how hard it is to translate humor across cultures. Overall, the many details, the quotes, the inclusion of the reader in the scenes described, and the personal touches made this the perfect book for getting a feel for the Elizabethan Era.

This review first published on Doing Dewey.

[triscuit_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Take a time machine back to the middle ages in England with this fascinating guidebook. I loved the engrossing and entirely believable descriptions of daily life - food, housing, clothing, medicine, law, entertainment, travel and social niceties. Mortimer’s work is both scholarly and fun to read. You will take away curious factoids such as: your class in life determined what fur you could wear, from ermine to rabbit, and until the 13th century there was no difference between the left and right shoes.