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

A thousand 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. 'It is great stuff … [an] original history of England …Mortimer has established himself as a fine teller of tales about people, rather than kings … A book rich in anecdotage' MAX HASTINGS, Book of the Week, Sunday Times‘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 HouseThis 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.

Blending the broadest national history with the most intimate local events, Mortimer 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 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.