What a fascinating idea! This book contains hundreds of short factual essays written by over fifty authors of historical novels. To write their novels, these authors do a tremendous amount of research, and this book offers a place for them to share the results of their hard work. The editors have grouped these essays into historical period - Roman Britain and Early Medieval, Late Medieval, Tudor, etc. Various topics are covered, including such things as how people dressed, what they ate, dancing, archery, nursery rhymes, heroic fables, true love stories, wigs, gossip, executions - there are literally hundreds of topics in this big book. And because the authors write novels, each topic is handled in an entertaining way. Madison Street Publishing, 2013. Paper. NEW. $17.00