My new book, coming this August:

 



Work on my new book, "Woodsmoke and Sage: The Five Senses 1485-1603", published by the History Press this August, is almost complete. 

It reflects my long-standing love of material culture, as I attempt to understand the Tudors in a different way, through the experience of having physicality in the sixteenth century. 

How did the Tudors experience the world?




We are used to reading about how the Tudors danced, fought, discussed, prayed and fell in love, how they broke with Rome, or mapped the stars, passed laws, or sailed across the Atlantic. 

Yet all these achievements were possible because each individual inhabited a physical body, which defined the limitations of their experience. As they went to debate in the council chamber, or to fly their falcon in the field, they were conscious of sensations of hunger, fear, pain, illness. Only they knew where their shoe pinched, or how hunger interrupted their concentration, or tried to ignore the pain of infection. How important was fire? Water? Sleep?




This book looks at the basics of the Tudors' existence, from rich to poor, young to old. Divided into five sections, each dedicated to one of the senses, it deconstructs how the world looked, how it sounded, recaptures lost tastes and scents, and explores how it felt to inhabit a Tudor body. 

Read about how the Tudors decorated their homes, how they interpreted omens, how they learned to write and how their taste buds changed across a century. How did they interpret and avoid bad smells, and how did they use good scents to their advantage? What sounds did they fear?



I have scoured hundreds of primary sources to find little-known records to bring the experience of Tudor life to you in vivid detail. I hope you will enjoy visiting this lost world.


Available for pre-order now on Amazon. Release date 26 August 2021:

Woodsmoke and Sage: The Five Senses 1485-1603: How the Tudors Experienced the World: Amazon.co.uk: Licence, Amy: 9780750991988: Books

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