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aschwartz184's review against another edition
3.0
I respect the author and was excited to read this. Unfortunately I only found parts of it interesting. I like that Goodman explored a unique aspect of history (the introduction of coal) but I didn't find it as fascinating as other microhistories on the era.
gillothen's review against another edition
5.0
This is quite simply superb. Ruth Goodman has spent a long time working on "living archaeology", recreating the methods used by our ancestors to run their homes and small businesses. She knows from practical experience what the differences are between a coal-fuelled household and one relying on wood - and the advantages are not all in the same camp.
She develops a careful argument based on surviving records - inventories, wills, account books - and surviving material goods to explore how and why Britain - starting with London - switched its primary source of domestic fuel from wood to coal in a few short decades at the end of Elizabeth I's reign and that of her successor. She then shows with excellent logic how this change went on to inspire developments in metallurgy - Darby of Coalbrookdale started by making cooking pots - and chemistry, and then became part of the imperialist distribution of British ideas and techniques around the globe. Utterly fascinating, well-argued and full of riveting examples.
She develops a careful argument based on surviving records - inventories, wills, account books - and surviving material goods to explore how and why Britain - starting with London - switched its primary source of domestic fuel from wood to coal in a few short decades at the end of Elizabeth I's reign and that of her successor. She then shows with excellent logic how this change went on to inspire developments in metallurgy - Darby of Coalbrookdale started by making cooking pots - and chemistry, and then became part of the imperialist distribution of British ideas and techniques around the globe. Utterly fascinating, well-argued and full of riveting examples.
a_manning11's review
informative
5.0
Ruth Goodman presents historic fact and the results of her own experiments and experiences with clarity and a logical sequence that is easy to follow and entirely fascinating. Having read "How T Be A Tudor" her historical starting point was already familiar to me, but it was essential to outline the changes that occured with the introduction of coal into the home as well as their consequences. The audio book is well done and I look forward to read/listen to more of Goodman's books in the future. I wish her titles as well as those by Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn were more easily available in the USA.
a_manning11's review against another edition
5.0
Ruth Goodman presents historic fact and the results of her own experiments and experiences with clarity and a logical sequence that is easy to follow and entirely fascinating. Having read "How T Be A Tudor" her historical starting point was already familiar to me, but it was essential to outline the changes that occured with the introduction of coal into the home as well as their consequences. The audio book is well done and I look forward to read/listen to more of Goodman's books in the future. I wish her titles as well as those by Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn were more easily available in the USA.
tybo's review against another edition
5.0
If you are interested in the historical minutiae of everyday life, this book is essential. It details knowledge once so well known nobody thought to write it down, but has since been lost to time and technological revolutions, lost that is until Ruth rediscovered them through decades of experimental archaeology/living history. Subjects include best ways to build cooking fires using a range of fuels, how cuisine has changed based upon favored cooking fuels (including an expose about, of all things, toast!) and how washing and cleaning routines have changed over time. The book also contains a wealth of primary sources if that is more your style. Highly recommended.
bibliowrecka's review against another edition
4.0
Weirdly entertaining for a book about the introduction of coal for cooking and heat in British homes. I've always loved microhistory books, and I've read Goodman's earlier How to Be an Elizabethan and How to Be a Victorian, and I like her chatty style as well as the information she includes from her own domestic experiments. So I was predisposed to like this, and I did, although (maybe because of the subject matter) it wasn't as enthralling as her earlier books to me.
fallhistorywitch's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
The Audio Book- the narrator was so monotone and unexcited it made listening to the book very difficult. The author makes these things sound so interesting when you watch her talk about these subjects on documentary shows like Victorian Farm and then this narrator took a subject I am normally very interested in and made me want to sleep.
The book- Very informative! I can’t believe the switch to coal started in the late 16th century. It could have used some editing because there was a couple chapters which were too boring. Like the chapter on different woods and how they burn. I am not sure that was necessary. I also felt like she talked more about the 16th and 17th centuries than the 19th century and this title was “the domestic revolution how the introduction of coal into VICTORIAN homes changed everything” Still there was some very good chapters that I will reference and reread in the future!
The book- Very informative! I can’t believe the switch to coal started in the late 16th century. It could have used some editing because there was a couple chapters which were too boring. Like the chapter on different woods and how they burn. I am not sure that was necessary. I also felt like she talked more about the 16th and 17th centuries than the 19th century and this title was “the domestic revolution how the introduction of coal into VICTORIAN homes changed everything” Still there was some very good chapters that I will reference and reread in the future!