Great Gift Idea – The Time Traveller’s Guide
December 7th, 2009 | 
Author: 
I’ve just read the most wonderful new guide book of England…
…in the 14th century.
The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer, answers the questions you might have to ask if you were transported back to the Middle Ages. What would you eat? Where would you stay? How should you travel? What kind of crime exists – and what kind of punishment? What will you do for entertainment? For money? For medicine? For clothes?
“The past is a foreign country,” the author says. “This is your guidebook.” And, in fact, the book is written like a travel guide making it a fun way read the history of an age of chivalry, of good kings and evil ones, crusades, Chaucer and the anonymous author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
I picked it up to read on a transatlantic flight over the Thanksgiving holiday and, for the first time, actually stayed awake to read it through all nine hours in the air.
If you are heading for England for vacation, or know someone who is, this book should be required reading before leaving home. It will add an extra dimension of understanding and pleasure to all the castles, half timbered houses, cathedrals, ancient village churches and landscapes visitors can expect to see in Britain.
I heartily recommend this – a great read and a fine present for someone on your list. (Buy Direct)
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Great Gift Idea – The Time Traveller’s Guide originally appeared on About.com United Kingdom Travel on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 01:12:54.
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