From Amazon: "On the heels of her triumphant How to Be a Victorian, Ruth Goodman travels even further back in English history to the era closest to her heart, the dramatic period from the crowning of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I. A celebrated master of British social and domestic history, Ruth Goodman draws on her own adventures living in re-created Tudor conditions to serve as our intrepid guide to sixteenth-century living. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this “immersive, engrossing” (Slate) work pays tribute to the lives of those who labored through the era. From using soot from candle wax as toothpaste to malting grain for homemade ale, from the gruesome sport of bear-baiting to cuckolding and cross-dressing―the madcap habits and revealing intimacies of life in the time of Shakespeare are vividly rendered for the insatiably curious."

This was a fun read---very informative! I read Goodman's, How to Be a Victorian a couple years ago and love her as a historian. This is the first book on English history I've read since getting my DNA results back and finding I'm almost 80% English. Goodman is always super thorough in her research and explanations so there was a lot of info to take in. Here are just some of the best bits:

**Rushes placed on the floor as bedding or "carpeting" may have been as hygienic as modern carpets---maybe more so.

**While I was aware that "the clothes made the man" in these times, I didn't realize the legalities involved---that it was actually illegal to dress outside one's class!

**People say that children were married so young "back in the day". I thought it was interesting to note that the average age at a first marriage was 24 for a woman and 26 for a man.

**Goodman shared an interesting take on bear baiting and how they believed it to be a good use of God's resources. The rush of blood before death was thought to tenderize the flesh of the animal; thus, allowing older animals' meat to be more nutritious.

**The most fascinating part for me was learning about their beliefs about the four body humours and how these related to digestion, order of food ingested, and who should eat what depending on something as trivial as one's hair color! ( )

A bit too descriptive for me; I’d suggest only for hardcore Tudor history buffs. ( )

I liked this book even better than How to be a Victorian -- mostly because I like the time period more, but also just for the sheer distance into history that Goodman is writing about. As usual, a delight to read, with really engaging first person stories about reenacting and how things were done. The kinds of experiences that Goodman brings to the book are so incredibly useful for understanding the time period! Finally, someone explains floor rushes in a way that I can visual and understand. Marvelous, funny, and great, great history. ( )

Always love Ruth Goodman's books! Very detailed and informative look at the every day realities of Tudor life. ( )

Author Ruth Goodman perused court records, wills, estate inventories, diaries, and other resources to examine life for common people in Tudor England. Her readable guide explores facets of daily life--household furnishings, cleanliness and hygiene, clothing, food, education, work, recreation, and sex. She treats subjects such as religion as part of the discussion for other topics. The resulting book contains social history that genealogists can utilize in constructing fuller narratives of ancestors and relatives living during this period. While several of Shakespeare's plays are mentioned throughout the book and theatre is treated in the section on recreation, the lack of mentioning Shakespeare and the Globe in that section seems a serious omission since his influence began in Elizabeth I's days and extended into the Stuart reign of James I. I found it interesting the author tried many Tudor ways of doing things prior to writing about them. ( )