Preview
  • The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England

  • By: Ian Mortimer
  • Narrated by: Mike Grady
  • Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,123 ratings)

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The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England

By: Ian Mortimer
Narrated by: Mike Grady
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Publisher's summary

Organized as a travel guide for the time-hopping tourist, The Time-Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England is an entertaining popular history with a twist. Historian Ian Mortimer reveals in delightful (and occasionally disturbing) detail how the streets and homes of 16th century looked, sounded, and smelled for both peasants and for royals; what people wore and ate; how they were punished for crimes and treated for diseases; and the complex and contradictory Elizabethan attitudes toward violence, class, sex, and religion. Mortimer also indulges readers in the lives of literary luminaries such as Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Sir Walter Raleigh.

©2012 Forrester Mortimer Ltd. (P)2013 W.F. Howes

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What listeners say about The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fun dive into history!

I usually listen to one of the Great Courses lecture series, but took a chance on this title. Of course, I have read some of Ian Mortimer's other books, so it really wasn't that much of a leap.
I really liked the fun dive into history and will definitely enjoy more audio books like this.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great information!

This gives you a good understanding of that time period. You learn about Queens and everyday people.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and wonderful

An absolutely brilliant look at what life was really like during the Elizabethan era - its culture, laws, interests, pasttimes and so much more.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration.

Entertaining chapters and boring chapters. Overall, the book is worth a listen. It is a trivial fact type book but has merit in my library. The narrator was superb. This is one of those books that I can fall asleep too, wake up in the middle of the night and keep listening. A great sleep aid,

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good book, narrator is soporific

I’m a fan of this series and have learned a lot, and although it can feel tedious I do still appreciate that the layout for each book is the same to make it easier to notice the differences between the ages. But this narrator definitely put me to sleep. Maybe have an extra cup of coffee with this one.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Read don't listen

Dense academic books like this should be read, not listened to. The chapters are individually interesting but not woven together well for a whole picture. Speaking of, pictures helped a lot (I googled pics of many of the terms) - this book really needs to be self paced and illustrated to get the maximum benefit.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Highly researched laundry list (literally)

Very in depth study of day to day life in Elizabethan England. obviously extensively researched, but the endless lists become monotonous. As do the haughty accents inflicted by the narrator. Some interesting details, but often to the point of extreme minutia.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very good...

I am having a hard time reviewing this book. Is it an excellent detailed look at Elizabethan England? Yes.
Is Ian Mortimer a master of the time travel history? Yes. Did Mike Grady do such an outstanding job at narration that even tedious lists were made interesting? Yes! So what is my issue? While I loved so much about this book and found it not only interesting, moving and extremely well done. I feel I just couldn’t recommend it to anyone unless they were very interested in minutely detailed information, lists, day to day descriptions that for some after time may feel like TMI! I loved this book and even at times I found myself zoning out in an information overload haze! That said, if you are fascinated by the time period and can’t get enough detailed information, than yes, I highly recommend the TTGtoEE!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

So, so, so full of detail.

This is a fascinating book that provides incredibly interesting slices of life observations as well as rationale and the evolution of Elizabethan customs and their influence on our modern world.
At 17 hours and 45 minutes, it can be a slog for the non-dedicated listener, but if you're keen on source material and the provision of numerous examples to provide historical context, it's a tremendous academic resource. Brilliantly narrated too.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very informative and interesting.

I enjoyed learning what it was like to be an average Englishman in Elizabethan England. 

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