A review by compassrose
How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts by Ruth Goodman

At its best when distilling the products of what does appear to be thorough research (along with considerable experience in living history); at its worst when introducing that research with the particular flavour of jocular Britishness that is so witty when done well, and so dreadfully annoying when not. (From the opening of the chapter on alcohol: "To drink or not to drink, that is the question. Whether it is ruder in the pub to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous refusal, or taking up the pot, drown your reason in ale.") This unfortunate choice lends what is otherwise an interesting little book on a relatively niche bit of social history an unnecessarily schoolkiddish tone. A detailed survey of 16th and 17th century English social mores, etiquette, and behaviour.