Daily Life in Elizabethan England - Hardcover

by Jeffrey L. Forgeng (Author)

This book offers an experiential perspective on the lives of Elizabethans--how they worked, ate, and played--with hands-on examples that include authentic music, recipes, and games of the period.

Daily Life in Elizabethan England: Second Edition offers a fresh look at Elizabethan life from the perspective of the people who actually lived it. With an abundance of updates based on the most current research, this second edition provides an engaging--and sometimes surprising--picture of what it was like to live during this distant time.

Readers will learn, for example, that Elizabethans were diligent recyclers, composting kitchen waste and collecting old rags for papermaking. They will discover that Elizabethans averaged less than 2 inches shorter than their modern British counterparts, and, in a surprising echo of our own age, that many Elizabethan city dwellers relied on carryout meals--albeit because they lacked kitchen facilities. What further sets the book apart is its "hands-on" approach to the past with the inclusion of actual music, games, recipes, and clothing patterns based on primary sources.

Author Biography

Jeffrey L. Forgeng is the Paul S. Morgan Curator at the Higgins Armory Museum and adjunct associate professor of history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA.