IAN MORTIMER

Forthcoming Publications

Last Updated 7 April 2008

1. The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: a Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century

In the press. To be published by The Bodley Head, 2 October 2008.

A guide to fourteenth-century England, written as if you could actually go there. Click on the link above for more details.

2. The Dying and the Doctors: the Medical Revolution in Seventeenth-Century England

In the press. To be published by The Royal Historical Society in 2009.

A scholarly study mapping how people suffering from extremely serious illnesses and injuries came to rely on the developing medical profession. Click on the link above for a synopsis.

3. 1415: Henry V's Year of Glory

Work in progress. To be published by The Bodley Head in October or November 2009.

This is the fourth volume in the 'Biographical History of England' sequence. It is a microbiography of Henry V in the year 1415, charting his life, week by week, from Christmas 1414 to Christmas 1415.

One of the driving factors behind the idea was a desire to 'get closer' to a main character: devoting a whole book to a single year in his life. Also, following on from the previous three volumes, it is hoped to demonstrate how much Henry V owed his father and, most importantly, his great-grandfather, King Edward III. And it is hoped to use various literary devices to experiment in the telling of a historical story, without sacrificing any of the scholarly underpinnning. Thus, although the story of Henry V and Agincourt is well-known, this is going to be an experimental book in terms of combining scholarship with excitement, a close view of a king's day-to-day way of life, and the unfolding of events through a tight chronological narrative.

4. Medieval Intrigue and the Nature of Historical Evidence (working title)

Work in progress, to be published by Hambledon Continuum in 2010.

A book of scholarly essays, including three essays/articles previously published in academic journals ('Sermons of Sodomy: the Sodomitical Reputation of Edward II Reconsidered'; 'The Death of Edward II in Berkeley Castle'; and 'Richard II and the Succession to the Throne'). It will also include a methodological introduction and three new essays (on the earl of Kent's rebellion, Edward II's survival, and the development of the concept of the pretender). What links all these pieces is the idea that, by separating information from the evidence in which it is contained, one can prove certain historical facts, even matters as traditionally doubtful as reports of a king's murder. While this only relates to things which are not relatively defined (e.g. death) and other matters cannot be proven as such (e.g. a king's sexuality), nevertheless the same information techniques can go a long way to discrediting various contemporary and modern speculations and assumptions.

5. The Warrior of the Roses: the Life of Richard, Duke of York

In planning. To be published by The Bodley Head.

The fifth volume in the 'Biographical History of England' sequence.

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