Penguin, 6 March 2014

Pb, 464 pp

We know what life was like for Victoria and Albert. But what was it like for a commoner like you or me? How did it feel to cook with coal and wash with tea leaves? Drink beer for breakfast and clean your teeth with cuttlefish? Dress in whalebone and feed opium to the baby? Surviving everyday life came down to the gritty details, the small necessities and tricks of living.

Drawing on Ruth's unique first-hand experience, gained from living on a Victorian farm for a year, this book will teach you everything you need to know about 19th century living.

If you liked A Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England or If Walls Could Talk , you will love this book.

Popular Historian Ruth Goodman is an expert in nineteenth-century social and domestic history. She has presented a number of BBC television series, including Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm and spent ten years as a historical advisor to the Royal Shakespeare Company's Globe Theatre.