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  • The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England

  • A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
  • By: Ian Mortimer
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
  • Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,581 ratings)

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The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England

By: Ian Mortimer
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Summary

Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat?

Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages.

The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail, and startling for its portrayal of humanity in an age of violence, exuberance and fear.

©2008 Ian Mortimer (P)2009 Isis Publishing Ltd
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Critic reviews

"A jaunty journey through the 14th century, one that wriggles with the stuff of everyday life." ( Guardian)

What listeners say about The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mesmerising!

Absolutely fascinating, interesting and fixes you way back in the 1400's, so much so you can almost taste it, touch it and smell it, it's been a pleasure and then some.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great detail!

I listened to this book on my morning walks out in Berkshire. Watching the sun rise while surrounded by rolling hills really brought this already great book to life. Highly recommend!

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Informative and enjoyable

Kept me interested throughout the book, an enjoyable memorable learning experience, narrator engaging to the last page

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Non Fiction that reads Like Fiction.

What more needs be said in praise of this book and the others in the series, its informative, entertaining and actually encourages you to really think about the subject in a way that i had not encountered before. I have been all through it twice since i downloaded it and the passage that describes the reader entering and exploring a medieval town is up there with the best of fiction IMO.
The performance is relaxed with just the right amount of humour and the production is high quality. These books are a revolution in the field of Non Fiction and weather it's for research or your just interested this is a must read.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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great intro into History

really loved listening to this, goes into great detail without being dry.

probably not for young kids though, there's some quite harsh descriptions of stuff.

can't recommend it enough!

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fun and informative

I enjoy reading history books and particularly like it when I can find out about the day-to-day lives of the people Who were there. I gain so much new knowledge and empathised with people in a different way having read this book. It's probably helped by the fact that it's read by my favourite narrator

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Brilliant Introduction to everyday life.

Fascinating and detailed account of many aspects of day to day life.

Highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Medieval history.

10/10

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Very Interesting Read

What did you like most about The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England?

It is a very clear account of this period in our history and so easy to digest the facts.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England?

I was so interested in the friar who predicted vehicles that would travel without horses, vehicles that would travel under water and in the sky. Perhaps time travellers do really exist.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Keeble – was your favourite?

There are no characters in the book, it is a narration of history.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A fascinating glimpse into a past century.

Any additional comments?

A very interesting and comprehensive book, very easy to listen to and in no way boring if one is interested in history. Excellent narration.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

History Made Interesting & Accessible

Typically, history books are pretty dry and unappealing reads at the best of times. However, the approach of this book was novel and original and therefore I thought I'd take a look.

I was not disappointed.

This is more like a guide book (as its title suggests) than a monologue on life in the 14th century and as such has a much wider appeal to those who might not consider this sort of work of interest.
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
is nonetheless an informative and entertaining read and will give the listener a real sense of what it was like to really live in that century. It places the listener as if you were actually there and points out all sorts of things about life back then you may not have thought about.

For those students of history this title is well worth a look as it is extremely detailed and well researched and will offer insights from a different point of view some history buffs may not have encountered before.

What really brings this book to life is the excellent narration by Jonathan Keeble . It is so naturally delivered that you might well think it's being recited from memory and is full of inflections and accents that really make it come to life.

Educational, insightful, entertaining and above all fun. This will teach you a thing or two and is worthy of your time.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Cool

The narrator was great, when he was describing the streets what the butchers shop would look like, smell like, and sound like. I could imagine myself standing there.

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