Ian Mortimer Books in Order

Mortimer follows the life of Roger Mortimer, first Earl of March, through his roles as feudal lord, rebel, and ruler of England. The biography examines a career shaped by the struggle for power in medieval politics.

This biography examines Edward III’s long reign and his role in reshaping England through warfare, government, and trade. Mortimer connects the king’s personal ambitions with the development of national institutions and a changing sense of English identity.

After overthrowing Richard II, Henry IV struggled to defend a crown many considered illegitimate. Mortimer traces the plots, fears, and political compromises of his reign, reassessing the ruler whose survival established the Lancastrian dynasty.

Presented as a guide for a visitor to fourteenth-century England, this history reconstructs the practical realities of medieval life. Food, clothing, disease, warfare, and social customs reveal a world experienced through ordinary needs and unfamiliar expectations.

Following Henry V through the events of 1415, Mortimer examines the politics, religious persecution, and personal suffering behind his celebrated victories. The account challenges the heroic legend surrounding the king and the campaign that culminated at Agincourt.

Using probate accounts and other records, Mortimer traces the changing treatment of seriously ill people in early modern England. The study explores expanding medical services, professional nursing, and the shift from religious reliance toward care by doctors.

Mortimer investigates contested questions surrounding medieval English rulers, including Edward II’s supposed death and the Lancastrian seizure of power. The essays examine royal conspiracies and the difficulties of interpreting evidence behind familiar historical accounts.

Mortimer imagines the questions a traveler would ask on entering Elizabethan England, from where to stay to what to eat. Daily hardships, religious persecution, literature, and exploration reveal the contradictions beneath the era’s reputation for national glory.

Which century of the last millennium transformed Western life most profoundly? Mortimer compares changes in technology, belief, politics, and daily experience, weighing their impact rather than assuming the most recent inventions produced the greatest historical upheaval.

Mortimer applies historical methods to claims about who wrote Shakespeare’s plays, distinguishing direct evidence from inference. The lecture uses the authorship dispute to argue for greater discipline and responsibility in how the public understands the past.

This lecture follows Henry IV’s changing reputation from admired young nobleman to embattled king, then considers how later writers diminished him. Mortimer reassesses his resilience and the political legacy that helped prepare the way for Henry V.

Facing death during the Black Death, brothers John and William receive six remaining days, each separated by ninety-nine years. Moving through an increasingly unfamiliar England, they search for a way to redeem themselves before their time expires.

This guide reconstructs everyday experience in Britain between 1660 and 1700, from clothing and food to medicine and justice. Mortimer places practical details beside the scientific, artistic, and religious changes that transformed the Restoration world.

Approaching his fiftieth birthday, Mortimer records a year of running with family and friends. Injuries, ambition, and moments of exhilaration prompt reflections on companionship, endurance, and the values that give both exercise and ordinary life meaning.

Mortimer explores Regency Britain through the practical details of daily life, including shopping, entertainment, food, and dress. The world of Austen and Byron emerges alongside political unrest, social change, and contradictions beneath its image of elegance.

Mortimer challenges the image of the Middle Ages as stagnant by tracing major changes between 1000 and 1600. Literacy, living standards, inequality, and personal identity reveal a society whose expanding horizons helped create the modern Western world.