Through the Windows of an Ordinary House
£25.00
This is the story of Mearsdon, the house where Ian Mortimer lives in Moretonhampstead, on the edge of Dartmoor. We very rarely have a continuous account of a particular place over a long stretch of history, but Mortimer has a documentary record of all the owners who lived there since the 1260s – although the origins of the building probably date back to the eleventh century. Blending the broadest national history and the most intimate local events with a description of changing daily life from the Norman Conquest to the present day, Mortimer acquaints us with the people who passed through the house – from its first known owner, John the Palmer, to the folklore collector Charlie Laycock, who turned the house into a museum in the early twentieth century, to Mortimer’s family living there today. And along the way he shows how national events affected a rural community in deepest Devon over a time span of 900 years.
In stock
Over nine hundred years of history. One house. Countless lives. This is the extraordinary story of England told through one ordinary house – from the bestselling author of the acclaimed Time Traveller’s Guides.
‘Endlessly fascinating … a must-read for history lovers everywhere’ TRACY BORMAN, author of The House of Boleyn
‘An intimate portrait of a thousand-year sweep of England’s history … Intriguing and compelling’ DAN CRUICKSHANK, author of The English House
'Brilliant … Richly researched and engagingly written' ANDREW ZIMINSKI, author of Church Going
This book tells the history of England from the point of view of the people who lived in Mearsdon – a house in Moretonhampstead on the edge of Dartmoor, where historian Ian Mortimer now lives. Remarkably, Mortimer has been able to trace daily life here from the coming of the Saxons to the present day.
With his trademark brilliant imagination and judicious archival expertise, Mortimer blends the broadest national history with the most intimate local events and domestic situations. In so doing, he acquaints us with those who occupied the building – from the first known owner, a thirteenth-century priest, to his own family living there today. Along the way he illustrates important social changes – such as the Norman Conquest, the Black Death, the Reformation, the discovery of the New World, the Industrial Revolution, and the two world wars – through the experiences of the house’s inhabitants and their neighbours in deepest Devon.
The result is a unique and fascinating perspective on English social history. Looking through the windows of Ian Mortimer’s house, we not only see the people who lived there over the ages, we also gaze through their eyes as they witness the world changing around them.
Praise for Ian Mortimer:
‘The endlessly inventive Ian Mortimer is the most remarkable medieval historian of our time’ THE TIMES
‘A wonderfully readable writer’ DAILY MAIL
‘Mortimer allows us to make wonderfully compelling connections with our forebears’ GUARDIAN
| Weight | 0.75 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 24 × 15.6 × 4 cm |
| Author | |
| Publisher | |
| Imprint | |
| Cover | Hardback |
| Pages | 356 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | |
| Dewey | 942.35 (edition:23) |
| Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |
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