The Outcasts of Time

A Novel

Ian Mortimer

From the author described by the London Times as "the most remarkable historian of our time” comes a stunning, high-concept time-travel adventure that is perfect for fans of S. J. Parris and Kate Mosse.

December 1348. What if you had just six days to save your soul?

With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John and William fear that they will shortly die and suffer in the afterlife. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home and spend their last six days in their familiar world, or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries – living each one of their remaining days ninety-nine years after the last.

John and William choose the future and find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on around them. The year 1546 brings no more comfort, and 1645 challenges them in further unexpected ways. It is not just that technology is changing: things they have taken for granted all their lives prove to be short-lived.

As they find themselves in stranger and stranger times, the reader travels with them, seeing the world through their eyes as it shifts through disease, progress, enlightenment, and war. But their time is running out—can they do something to redeem themselves before the six days are up?

Dr. Ian Mortimer has been described by the London Times as "the most remarkable medieval historian of our time." He is best known as the author of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, which was a London Sunday Times bestseller in 2010. Its follow-up, The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England, was a London Sunday Times bestseller in 2012. He was awarded the Alexander Prize by the Royal Historical Society for his work on the social history of medicine. Ian is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Please visit his website at www.ianmortimer.com.

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Endorsements & Reviews

"Through everyday details, the reader, along with the brothers, is drawn into the experience of the astounding changes in technology and society that occur with the passage of time." Booklist

"A compassionate and thought-provoking exploration of faith, conscience, guilt, self-worth, and redemption." Publishers Weekly

"Original, inherently fascinating, and a consistently entertaining read from cover to cover, The Outcasts of Time showcases author Ian Mortimer's genuine flair for narrative driven storytelling." Midwest Book Review

"An amazing journey through English history, watching everymen from the 1300s navigate various futures." British Heritage Travel

"It's an incredible tour de force, a vivid and page-turning evocation of an age that is long-gone yet has been brought to life again in vibrant and robust fashion thanks to Ian Mortimer's impeccable scholarship and pacy writing." Alison Weir, New York Times bestselling author