There are often short passages in history books that attempt to explain the way that people in a different time lived and thought. However, it is rare that an entire book would be published that would deal strictly with everyday life. One other book that comes to mind is Daily Life in Ancient Rome. However, The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, despite the odd mix of British and American orthography in the title, is fascinating in a way that few books can be.

Mortimer (a descendant of the ill-famed Mortimers from the Middle Ages) paints a very vivid picture of what life was like in England in the Middle Ages, and he presents it as though the reader, a modern individual, has been transported back into time. This permits him to refer to things that haven't been invented, discuss the lack of certain conveniences and compare the Medieval mind with the modern one.

The result is spectacular. While at times the book can elicit a smile or a laugh, it was certainly not written to be a humorous book or a lighthearted topical treatment. The book is serious, and it is the result of solid scholarship and research. It does not seek to belittle our ancestors or their way of life. In fact, in many places Mortimer defends their superstitions and ignorance from modern prejudice and the inevitable arrogance that a more educated modern reader might instinctively feel.

He shows, for example, how people did their best to keep their homes and persons clean, how they attempted to live in harmony with their neighbors (as reputation was vital to survival), and how many of the more brutal aspects of their society arose naturally. If parents beat their children often and severely (which they did - they would be considered bad parents by their neighbors if they didn't), Mortimer is quick to point out that children as young as seven could be summarily hanged for theft. If their society seems more violent and impulsive generally, Mortimer reminds us that the median age for society was 21, that people often married between 12 and 14, and that 16-year-olds commonly led armies. Life expectancy at birth was only 18 years, though those who survived one year saw their expectancy increase to around 50.

Mortimer addressed almost all aspects of life - home life, professions, trade and markets, the way towns and cities looked, how waste was disposed of (often, gongfermours), what people did in their spare time, the arts and literature, crime and punishment and the incredible sense of religion that permeated society. The fact that a merchant who wanted to collect on a debt was likely to cry while he attempted to demand payment (sorry that he was forced to threaten the debtor), or that a battle-hardened knight would shed a tear while contemplating the beauty of flowers, is a level of emotional immediacy that the present day certainly lacks.

I highly recommend the book and will likely move on to its companion volume, The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England (which, perhaps because it wasn't released by the Folio Society, has a thoroughly American spelling of the title).