It wouldn't be a reading wrap-up from me without a book about disease, crime or death and my morbid pick for the month of June was an upcoming release that should be available at the end of the year. A History of Death in 17th Century England is fairly self explanatory as it explores various aspects of death, from funeral rites, illness and mortality rates to the role religion plays, wills and much more. I found most of this book thoroughly fascinating, particularly the first half or so of the book and the views of illness, disease and death at this time in English history which is very different to our own distanced view of death and modern scientific explanations of disease.

While I found the information interesting and much of it was new to me, I didn't like the structure of the book as even though it was separated into distinct chapters, the information within each chapter felt very 'cut and paste' rather than explained in-depth or fully examined. I did find the individual account fascinating but the book felt like a stitched together collection of quotes, in my opinion. I did enjoy (however much you can enjoy a book of this nature) and I would recommend it but I think the structure and presentation of the information could have been more reader friendly and fluid, in my opinion.

This book was much better than I thought it was going to be and kept my interest from start to finish. Death can seem like a morbid and depressing topic, and it happens to everyone eventually, but this book was not gloomy at all. The author talks about different forms of death in England's 1600's highlighting mostly common people. But what really peaked my interest, were the chapters on royalty. I like how the deaths were celebrated at the funerals.

If you like reading about British history and want to know a different aspect, this is the book to read. If you are a fan of Tudor dynasty, you might be disappointed because this book was after that. Overall, I enjoyed learning more about 17th century England and you could tell the author did a lot of research about the time period. Definitely recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Ben Norman and Pen & Sword History for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 9/30/20

My thanks to Pen and Sword, Ben Norman and Netgalley.
I enjoyed this much less.than I thought I would. But, in truth that's not anyone's fault but mine. I had different expectations.
That in no way diminishes this book. I will admit that some chapters were tedious. Only because it was an oftentold tale. Yet others were good. Every one knows I love icky stories. Mostly, I love them when royalty and crap are executed! Blood thirsty am I!
Still, this book had me thinking that I'd be reading more than what I got.
I thought it was pedestrian. But, I'm not sure if this is the author's or publisher's fault.
I had fun with some of these accounts. Let's admit, that the 1600's would have sucked! So, I will be generous and give 4 stars. Only if you don't know better though! This is revealing, but only if you've never discovered this decade.

Very sistematic and concise presentation of history of the death in 17. century England.

The struggle for life started from the moment a baby was born. Deaths on childbirth for mother and child were common, Common death causes were also by diseases as smallpox f.i., plague and then criminal punishments, war, etc.
Death was ubiquitous part of life in 17. century.

Sweeping changes were affecting the rituals surrounding death, burial, and remembrance. People often soothed themselves that the dead beloved would soon be in "the land of rest, where there is no sickness but all perfection".

I highly recommend the book.

This is a short go-through of how death portrayed itself in the 17th century, each chapter highlighting a different aspect: illnesses, warring and so on. There's also some chapters specifically about the deaths of royalty and their funerals.

The most interesting thing about Norman's book is that the majority of the text is about normal people living (and dying). We get to know their names and their fates, which, so to speak, opens up history and shows us that people 400 years ago wasn't that unlike us now in the 21th century.

You would think that a book about death would be dreary but I found Norman's book an interesting read mostly due the above mentioned reason. The text is easy to read and follow along to, so no objections there.

*A big thank-you to Ben Norman, Pen & Sword and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
I requested this title as I often read historical fiction and the 17th century is of particular interest to me. I wanted to expand my knowledge regarding the ways death was perceived in that period and reading this book proved to be interesting. Mr Norman presents how people met their deaths, rituals connected with the burials or the ways the dead were commemorated. One chapter is devoted to the royal funerals which took place in the 17th century and includes most fascinating information. The amount of research done into non-fiction is imposing as the author quotes contemporary accounts which are not difficult to follow.
The subject matter of this book is not joyful, however, it is full of facts that both curious and impressive.