The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

 Title: The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

Author: Ian Mortimer

Year published: 2012

Pages: 432
Time It Took To Read: A few weeks

God, I'm on such a go-slow this month. I've got an exam looming in 25 days (GULP) and despite the fact I'm putting revision off, I cannot concentrate properly on anything else. Except blind panic and flailing, but that's fairly standard.

Anyhow, I started reading this a few weeks ago, and have been persevering VERY SLOWLY. That's not to say it's a difficult read - it really isn't - I just have a lousy slow mind at the moment.  I am a big fan of Ian Mortimer - the Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England is one of my favourite history books. 

Instead of concentrating on the monarchy, which virtually every other history book does (mainly because that's where the documentation lies), Ian Mortimer looks at sources to find out how regular people lived. He writes the book in the form of a guide to another country, with sections on the land, diet, entertainment, transport and illness. It is FASCINATING. 

Although this isn't written as a series, you will probably find it helpful to read the Medieval England guide first, as this book assumes you've read it and builds on the knowledge in that book. It compares life in Elizabethan England both to the medieval era, and to the present. 

Book count:  27/50

I have a VAST TROVE of books to read after my exam, including the latter three Song of Ice and Fire series, and loads of other fantasy. But for now, I fear the revision needs my attention a touch more.