Where Queen Elizabeth Slept and What the Butler Saw : A Treasury of Historical Terms from the Sixteenth Century to the Present

Rating:
Summary: More a type of dictionary
Review: This book was more a dictionary than anything. I thought it would explain historical terms as in a story, but it has terms and definitions. Good book if you are looking up terms but as to everyday life and language it is not so good.

Rating:
Summary: Great for looking up how everyday life changed over time
Review: This is a great book if you want to compare the everyday life of someone in one period with another period in a general way--but it is less fulsome on details than other historical guides specific to one period, and is not terribly specific about when these changes took place. You get lots of phrases like "in the second half of the 17th century" which give you a fair amount of guesswork. Still, if you are interested in daily life in a historical perspective this should prove to be a good addition to your bookshelf.