What Life was Like

In the age of Chivalry

In the realm of Elizabeth

On the banks of the Nile

At the dawn of Democracy

When Rome ruled the World

By Time Life Books

When I set out to read 52 books in a year I knew at some point I’d have trouble finding books of interest, or the money to buy more books. Then I realized that I had a goldmine in the closet. Hey doesn’t everyone keep their extra books in boxes in the closet? Well mine is full of Time Life Books. Starting a few years ago I got carried away buying them on ebay. I always want to start reading them again but I never seem to make the time. Well 007 was the year to start reading what Time Life had to offer!

The only problem with the Time Life books is that they are all hardback and oversize. They are also heavy. This makes it difficult to pack one into my suitcase and lug around for half a week when I go to work. Hell my bags already weigh 35 pounds, each, and I have two. That’s almost half my body weight. Anyway I got interested in the What Life Was Like series when I was looking for some books on life in the middle ages a few years ago. There are more books in the series than I have but I bid on a set that had 5 of the titles. After getting the books I quickly read In the age of Chivalry, then set the rest aside and never made time to read them. What was I thinking? These books are great! They seem to be written more for a high school or younger age level. They’re short, around 170 pages and contain lots of pictures. What I really like about them is that they tell a story through examples of real people with pictures of paintings and artifacts. In the beginning of each book they have a timeline so you can get an overview of the civilization being covered. These books help take you through the time frame in living color. But don’t confuse them with the Time Life books series called Time Frame. I’ve flipped through one of these once but I don’t remember much about it.

The books that I bought cover what life was like…In the age of chivalry, In the realm of Elizabeth, On the banks of the Nile, At the dawn of democracy, When Rome ruled the world.

Okay so I didn’t read In the age of Chivalry in 2007 but seeing that I’ve only got a sentence or two to say about each I’ll tell you a little about it also.

In the age of Chivalry talks about how the common people lived. Monks, knights, villagers. A short chronicle of the crusades, life around a manor and in a town. There is a focus on tools people used with pictures of everything talked about. A good beginning book on the time period. Well all of these books really are an introduction to the age, so that you could have something to look for if you what to know more about any of the chapters.

In the realm of Elizabeth was kind of a disappointment. If you’re interested in royalty and the politics behind the throne then this is the volume for you. For me, not so much. The later chapters talk about life in London, the rise in popularity of books and pamphlets, plays. There are highlight sections of recipes of the time and cures for ailments. When read in the language of the time I wasn’t able to make much of them but the book helps to explain everything. The last chapter talks about advances in science and Sir Francis Drake and his explorations.

On the banks of the Nile is about Egypt. Pharaohs, tombs, religion, it’s all here. Also there are examples of the tools craftsmen used. From building a pyramid, to making a mummy, to the simple hand tools used to make a chair inlaid with precious stone. Learn about a Meskhenet or a confinement chair. Where a women can brace herself for the rigors of child birth. To aid conception the old fashioned way? Try squatting over a steaming mixture of frankincense, oil, dates and beer. Or use a mixture containing crocodile dung to prevent getting pregnant. Who knew?

At the dawn of Democracy there is talk of the Greek gods and the festivals held in their honor. The Olympics are mentioned but also how the average Greek lived. The Greeks and Romans used what looks to me like a teapot to feed babies. So now you know what they did before rubber and plastic were invented.

When Rome ruled the World also talks about the Gods. But only in one of the essays. Learn about how the Caesar’s ruled, the struggle for power among them would be rulers. For some reason this was a little more interesting than reading about Elizabeth. The Colosseum and the games held in it compose a chapter. But the best parts of this volume are the pictures. The photos of the mosaics the Romans created are amazing. It’s amazing that they have lasted this long but here they are here for you to see.

Each book also has a glossary of time specific terms at the end. This is a nice touch, though while reading there is no indication of which words are further defined in the glossary so unless you flip through it on you own it’s not very user friendly.

I really like this series and I’d be interested in maybe reading more. I say pick and choose which of the volumes interest you and give it a go. I wasn’t very excited to read about the Greeks and the Romans but I enjoyed the books all the same.