Through the Windows of an Ordinary House: A History of England

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This book tells the history of England from the point of view of the people who lived in Mearsdon, the house in Moretonhampstead on the edge of Dartmoor, where the historian Ian Mortimer now lives. The house is documented from the thirteenth century but through a judicious use of archaeological and written evidence, it has been possible to describe daily life locally from the coming of the Saxons in the seventh century to the present day.

Mortimer blends the broadest national history with the most intimate local events and domestic situations. In so doing, he acquaints us with those who inhabited 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 inhabitants of the house and their neighbours in deepest Devon.

The result is a unique and fascinating perspective on English social history. Demonstrating the brilliant imagination, thorough research and storytelling ability that made his Time Traveller’s Guides such a huge success, Mortimer introduces us to lords and peasants, merchants and murderers, clergymen and shepherds, housewives and hoteliers, to create a continuously evolving story. Looking through the windows of his 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.

This intimate portrait of a thousand-year sweep of England’s history that – through the architectural prism of one ordinary house – conjures up the lives of the long dead and offers insights into a seemingly unfathomable past. An intriguing and compelling book
Dan Cruickshank, author of The English House

This endlessly fascinating book tells the story of England from the inside out, giving full expression to the often neglected ordinary people who lived through the vagaries of royal will, rebellion, prosperity and hardship. A wealth of exquisite period details and vivid descriptions immerse the reader in an extraordinary house and its community over the course of almost 2,000 years. A must for history lovers everywhere
Tracy Borman, author of The House of Boleyn

To understand England, you do not necessarily need to travel everywhere. Sometimes one very old house is enough. In Through the Windows of an Ordinary House, Ian Mortimer brilliantly tells the story of England through the lens of a single house, his own at Mearsdon Manor, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. By tracing the lives of those who lived there, from the 13th-century priest who was pardoned for murder to the woolcomber in the 1600s who carved his initials into its wooden beams, he reveals how great national events such as the Black Death, the English Civil War, and the world wars shaped ordinary lives. Richly researched and engagingly written, this fascinating book reminds us that the history living quietly within the walls of many seemingly unassuming homes is anything but ordinary
Andrew Ziminski, author of Church Going

About Ian Mortimer

Dr Ian Mortimer is the Sunday Times-bestselling author of the Time Traveller's Guides to Medieval England, Elizabethan England, Restoration Britain and Regency Britain, as well as four critically acclaimed medieval biographies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1998. His work on the social history of medicine won the Alexander Prize in 2004 and was published by the Royal Historical Society in 2009. He lives with his wife and three children in Moretonhampstead, on the edge of Dartmoor.

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