Up until recently, my knowledge has been based around the eras of my interest as a child. Mainly Victorian and Regency, with a bit of Edwardian, which is probably due to films such as Little Women, Sense and Sensibility, and many classic movie musicals that I grew up enjoying. I was always fixated with the costumes, and the scenes that stuck in my head would so often be the ones with the most interesting dresses! All the more if there was a corset involved. However, I've always had an interest in earlier eras, particularly Medieval and Tudor, but the facts have always been a bit of a blur. Knowing little things here and there (like which of Henry VIII's wives were beheaded, or why women didn't wear their hair down) lend themselves well to certain things, but I'm curious about the bigger picture.
Today, I wanted to quickly share with you a couple of books.
The first book of the two, is this...
Tudor: The Family Story by Leanda De Lisle, is basically Tudor history told as the historical drama that it is. And it's very good. Inside the covers are two family trees, entitled The Past: The House of Lancaster and York and The Family: Descendants of Henry VII, which I find myself referring to constantly throughout. It paints a picture of one of the most famous dynasties in British history that's easy to understand. Who's descended from who, the reasons for the many battles (I'm only on Margaret Beaufort, and Henry VI's second reign, and I've already encountered a good few), and finding the little things on these historical characters that really brings them to life. For me, reading a book about people who actually existed is just as good as reading a book about fictional characters you only wished existed!
The second of the two is one I just found today in a charity shop (good ol' charity shops) and is The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England.
I was having what was intended to be a flick through on the way home, when I found myself reading entire chapters. It's one of those books where you can just flip to a page and start reading, and it's so engaging that you're in no hurry to stop. As the title suggests, it's written in the form of a time traveller's handbook to everyday life in Medieval England, covering what you need to know for all types of person. What you would be allowed to wear, how different their sense of humour is to our own, how you would travel, where you would stay. It's amusing at the same time as being informative, and I think it's fantastic. Here's a snippet from the opening paragraph, to give you an idea: "Imagine yourself in a dusty London street on a summer morning. A servant opens an upstairs shutter and starts beating a blanket. A dog guarding a traveller's packhorses starts barking. Nearby traders call out from their market stalls while two women stand chatting, one shielding her eyes from the sun, the other with a basket in her arms. The wooden beams of houses project out over the street. Painted signs above the doors show what is for sale in the shops beneath. Suddenly a thief grabs a merchant's purse near the traders' stalls, and the merchant runs after him, shouting. Everyone turns to watch. And you, in the middle of all this, where are you going to stay tonight? What are you wearing? What are you going to eat?
"As soon as you start to think of the past happening (as opposed to it having happened), a new way of conceiving history becomes possible."
I personally think that sounds rather inviting.
