This is the latest addition to Ian Mortimer’s ‘Time Traveller’s Guide’ series, so I already knew what to expect. Having read, and enjoyed, the earlier books on Medieval England and Elizabethan England, I admit, I was less sure about this one, as the restoration period is not one that tends to attract me. Indeed, the author starts out by saying that the era is one that is sometimes neglected. The thinking being that it was perhaps simply a return to life as it was before the Civil War. He sets out firmly to disabuse us.
As in the previous books, you are asked to imagine yourself as a modern visitor arriving in Britain between 1660 and 1700. The author then takes you through various aspects of life you will encounter; where to stay, what to eat and drink, how to travel, what to wear. Along the way, you will be introduced to the country and the people, both in London, and around the country, as well as a few forays into Wales and Scotland.
This is a world very different to today. The civil war is very recent history; the country is still recovering from the shock of that event, and although life is more settled and peaceful, it is far from easy. Poverty is very real for huge swathes of the population. But there is a quiet revolution going on; people are much more concerned about the quality of their earthly lives, than a promise of a better life yet to come. Rational, scientific thinking is becoming the norm; professionalism is entering all walks of life. A significant middle class is appearing, comfortable with itself, and looking to enjoy it’s new wealth.
There is a huge amount of information in this book, but the author generally imparts it in such a light-handed way, that you hardly notice. It is difficult to take it all in though! Some of the descriptions of life are what you would expect, but there are many surprises along the way. One that sticks out for me is that food was comparatively fourteen times more expensive than it is for us today. The majority of working people spent most of their income simply on getting enough to eat; many failed.
I would only make one or two criticisms. The first, a minor but annoying point was that the book started falling apart before I had got a quarter of the way through. First, the illustration pages fell out, then the printed pages either side of them. This is unacceptable from a major publisher.
Secondly, I lost some interest in the last section on entertainment. It is the largest single section in the book, and whilst I found some of it interesting, long passages of poetry are just not my thing! It just seemed disproportionate to the rest of the book.
But overall, this is another fascinating book from Ian Mortimer. I came away with a much better appreciation of the Restoration period and its people. How much life changed between the Civil War years and the end of the century. It really is a time that set the scene for the Britain of the eighteenth century.
This is a review of the Vintage 2018 paperback edition.
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