{"product_id":"through-the-windows-of-an-ordinary-house-a-history-of-england","title":"Through the Windows of an Ordinary House: A History of England","description":"This book tells 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 – from the Black Death to the Prayerbook Rebellion, from the Civil Wars to the two world wars – affected a rural community in deepest Devon over a time span of 900 years. The result is fascinating social history like no other. Bringing to it the brilliant imagination and storytelling gifts that made his Time Traveller’s Guides such a huge success, Mortimer introduces us to lords and merchants, ale brewers and peasants, clergymen and murderers, to create a continuously evolving story. Seeing through its windows, we not only glimpse at the people who lived in the house over the ages; we also see through their eyes as they look out at the changing world around them.","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58148765270351,"sku":"9781847928160","price":38.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0061\/0372\/8217\/files\/9781847928160_1-through-the-windows-of-an-ordinary-house-a-history-of-england.jpg?v=1783341182","url":"https:\/\/www.suomalainen.com\/products\/through-the-windows-of-an-ordinary-house-a-history-of-england","provider":"Suomalainen.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}