How To Be a Tudor
A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life
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4.5 • 25 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
From an historian who advised on the BBC’s Wolf Hall, an erudite romp through the intimate details of life in Tudor England.
On the heels of her triumphant How to Be a Victorian, Ruth Goodman travels even further back in English history to the era closest to her heart, the dramatic period from the crowning of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I. Drawing on her own adventures living in re-created Tudor conditions, Goodman serves as our intrepid guide to sixteenth-century living. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the era. From sounding the “hue and cry” to alert a village to danger to malting grain for homemade ale, from the gruesome sport of bear-baiting to cuckolding and cross-dressing—the madcap habits and revealing intimacies of life in the time of Shakespeare are vividly rendered for the insatiably curious.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Utilizing substantial research and her own experiences as an occasional historical re-enactor, Goodman (How to Be a Victorian) delves into the nuances of the daily lives of the average English person living during the era of the flashy, fraught Tudor court. She matter-of-factly starts and ends the chronicle with the sleeping area, but includes surprising details about clothing, food production, education, and more as she navigates the course of one 24-hour period. Goodman offers simple but thorough explanations of how things work whether rope-strung beds or common, reliable hygienic practices while still entertaining readers, making note, for example, of how her knowledge of the era's linguistics heightens her own enjoyment of Shakespeare's bawdiness. In fact, her participation in 15th-century bread-baking and other period activities offers specific insight on where previous historians and popular depictions have erred, especially regarding long-held notions of poor hygiene and invariably sedate dancing scenes. Although there's some discussion of the English Reformation's impact or other court-led legal changes, the emphasis remains on the ordinary and very practical people often overlooked by other Tudor-centric historical examinations. Throughout, Goodman's palpable enthusiasm and clear appreciation for the resourcefulness of the era's people make these men and women entirely relatable and yet full of surprises. Illus.
Customer Reviews
i love ruth goodman
ruth goodman is a great author and her books are genius.