Synopses & Reviews
Liza Picard immerses her readers in the spectacular details of daily life in the London of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). Beginning with the River Thames, she examines the city on the north bank, still largely confined within the old Roman walls. The wealthy lived in mansions upriver, and the royal palaces were even farther up at Westminster. On the south bank, theaters and spectacles drew the crowds, and Southwark and Bermondsey were bustling with trade. Picard examines the streets and the traffic in them; she surveys building methods and shows us the decor of the rich and the not-so-rich. Her account overflows with particulars of domestic life, right down to what was likely to be growing in London gardens.
Picard then turns her eye to the Londoners themselves, many of whom were afflicted by the plague, smallpox, and other diseases. The diagnosis was frequently bizarre and the treatment could do more harm than good. But there was comfort to be had in simple, homely pleasures, and cares could be forgotten in a playhouse or the bull-baiting and bear-baiting rings, or watching a good cockfight. The more sober-minded might go to hear a lecture at Gresham College or the latest preacher at Paul's Cross.
Immigrants posed problems for Londoners who, though proud of their nation's religious tolerance, were concerned about the damage these skilled migrants might do to their own livelihoods, despite the dominance of livery companies and their apprentice system. Henry VIII's destruction of the monasteries had caused a crisis in poverty management that was still acute, resulting in begging (with begging licenses!) and a "parochial poor rate" paid by the better-off.
Liza Picard's wonderfully vivid prose enables us to share the satisfaction and delights, as well as the vexations and horrors, of the everyday lives of the denizens of sixteenth-century London.
Review
"In Elizabeth's London, Liza Picard attempts to give an account of the everyday lives of the men and women in the city during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). After a too-brief prologue that summarizes England's history from the War of the Roses to Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, she begins by describing London, the place, delving into the details surrounding the river, sewer system, main streets, architecture, and furniture. The second part of the book is devoted to the people of London and their lives what they wore and ate; their health and family life; the way they worked, played, and worshipped; what laws governed them.
Picard succeeds in her mission to dig up the obscure and often ignored practical details of life in Elizabethan London, but unfortunately, because the book lacks a larger, unifying vision, the parts fail to cohere into a whole. The presentation of the information requires the reader to link one section with another, one chapter with another; but with no overarching claim to hold them together, the parade of quaint details becomes rather tedious. In addition, Picard falls into the trap of claiming to represent the majority with evidence culled from a small sample of the population. Though she claims to present the everyday lives of ordinary Londoners, a good many examples are taken from the aristocratic class (especially the section on dress). The end result is that the ordinary Londoners of her book seem to live very middle-class lives. Lastly, Picard eschews critical distance and insistently infuses the Elizabethan Londoners with her own worldview a persistently irritating feature of her writing style.
This is not to say that the book is not entertaining at times. I certainly learned a thing or two about Elizabethan London while reading Picard's book at the beach. If this is how the book is meant to be consumed, as beach reading, then it serves its purpose just fine. As a serious and challenging work of scholarship, however, it has a long way to go." Reviewed by Melissa White, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
This picture of the London of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) is the result of Liza Picard's curiosity about the practical details of daily life that almost every history book ignores. As seen in her two previous, highly acclaimed books-Restoration London and Dr. Johnson's London-she has immersed herself in contemporary sources of every kind. She begins with the River Thames, the lifeblood of Elizabethan London. The city, on the north bank of the river, was still largely confined within old Roman walls. Upriver at Westminster were the royal palaces, and between them and the crowded city the mansions of the great and the good commanded the river frontage. She shows us the interior décor of the rich and the not-so-rich, and what they were likely to be growing in their gardens. Then the Londoners of the time take the stage, in all their amazing finery. Plague, small-pox, and other diseases afflicted them. But food and drink, sex and marriage and family life provided comfort, a good education was always useful, and cares could be forgotten in a playhouse or the bear-baiting rings, or watching a good cockfight. Liza Picard's wonderfully skillful and vivid evocation of the London of four hundred years ago enables us to share the delights, as well as the horrors, of the everyday lives of sixteenth century Britain.
Synopsis
Praise for ELIZABETH'S LONDON:
"Wisely, she parcels out her findings in units that seldom come to more than one to three pages...there is an excellent index, a handy means of dealing with treasure that is piled high...You can open the book and start reading anywhere" --Richard Buell, Boston Globe
"Lively guide to Elizabethan England." -The Washington Post
Praise for DR. JOHNSON'S LONDON:
"Lively...[Picard] gives an excellent indication about what Londoners thought." --The Washington Times
"Quintessential...[Picard] does a marvelous job of unearthing material about London."--Buffalo News
"[Samuel] Johnson stated, 'When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.' Picard shows why."--Charleston Post & Courier
Praise for RESTORATION LONDON:
"Lively and informative, with a distinctly eccentric feel...entertaining."--Publishers Weekly
"[An] engaging survey."--Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Liza Picard was born in Essex in 1927, the youngest daughter of the village doctor. She read law at the London School of Economics but chose not to practice, despite qualifying as a barrister. She is the author of
Restoration London (1997) and
Dr. Johnson's London (2000).