A History of Courtship: 800 Years of Seduction

by Tania O'Donnell

Tania O’Donnell takes the reader on a journey from medieval Courtly Love, through to the sexual license of the Restoration, and Victorian propriety. Pick up historical ‘dating tips,’ from how to court (or be courted), write romantic love letters, give and receive gifts, propose and pose as a sighing swain.
The book takes a historical approach to the problem of finding a mate, with case studies of classic romantic mistakes and plenty of unusual tales. In the 14th century young men tried to impress the ladies with their footwear, donning shoes with pointed toes so long that they had to be secured with whalebone—presumably because size mattered!
A History of Courtship is an entertaining and enlightening look at seduction over the centuries.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Romance, Sexuality, Relationships

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 2018

Reviews

[Melisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book read a bit like a research paper, I did learn quite a few fun facts and historical antecdotes regarding love and courting. I enjoyed the illustrations which highlighted some of the points that were addressed in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Tracie Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book: A History of Courtship
Author: Tania O’Donnell
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
Genre: History
Publication Date: January 27,2017
Rating:



*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this in exchange for my honest review*

My Thoughts
This book was a thematic historical look into 800 years of courting techniques and relationships. It goes through many topics including courting, how to propose, and even writing love letters and giving gifts to one’s lover.
As the published summary says, “A History of Courtship is an entertaining and enlightening look at seduction over the centuries”.
Right…
So when I saw this book I was so interested. I love rather obscure History and was looking forward to discovering new facts about courtship and relationships through the centuries.
And because it’s me you’re talking about, I was thinking we would learn and get some of this…







But did we?
Nope…
Goddammit!
This one is another case of a great idea, but terrible execution.
The first problem was the length. At 176 pages, this book was wayyyy too short for 800 years of courtship. I didn’t even see 800 years of anything. She mostly explored the Victorian ages and then just a bit about every time period before that. And furthermore, a lot of those 176 pages were filled with lengthy and unnecessary quotes or poems that filled pages. It was like the author was writing a college paper and didn’t feel like researching thoroughly, so she decided to bullshit and add lengthy quotes to get pages. Plus, most of the info she wrote about I knew about anyway, as did anyone who read a beginner’s European History or beginner’s Victorian Ages.



The next problem was the organization. Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching and learning history in a thematic or subject based way.
But it didn’t work here.
The themes weren’t organized in any way and holy crap they were all over the place. I would have liked this better if the book were organized chronologically instead. Or if the themes were organized according to what happened in each time period. And if there was way more detail with each theme.
Lastly, I was disappointed to find that this book was only about courtship practice in Europe. I mean that’s cool and I love learning about it, but I would have LOVED to learn about courtship and romance in other cultures and countries.
Overall, a big disappointment.

[Melisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting short romp through the history of courtship. I enjoyed learning about some of the odd and crazy things people have done and still do to attract others. a quick and fun read.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starting off by titling your book “800 Years of Seduction,” you are promising the readers a great deal of information. Instead readers of this particular book are left with a series of little bits of information from a mainly European, and predominantly United Kingdom view on seduction. While there a plethora of information gleaned from other books and several different sources are given out throughout the text, there seems to be very little real flow to the book.
If the book was able to focus on any one segment of time and be able to give details, and perhaps use a bit of narrative to give readers a focus point, it would have promise. As it is, promising 800 years worth of history with only 176 pages, both leaves the reader with not enough detail and too much jumping around. This book would be suitable for a light read and I would recommend looking at some of the references that author Tania O’Donnell has written about throughout if this is a subject that intrigues you.
*This eBook was provided by NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing in exchange for honest feedback*

[Artemiz · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I asked Tania O'Donnell's book A History of Courtship, I was really looking forward to read a good entertaining book about courtship and seduction history, about tradition and customs. But ...

All I got was superficial survey of some tradition, some book references. Then there were some information about fashion, about customs, how church has been involved in courtship, how clerks encouraged higher class men to rape common woman, how there was a time when for marring someone was not needed much more than two people to decide they wanted to be together, and how it was fairly common, that lower class brides were already pregnant when they stood at altar. Then there was some information about diseases, prostitution and life after marriage. Even the illustrations (mostly caricatures) and poetry did not make the book any better.

Unfortunately it was total flop.

[Killian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this book seems really promising. I was hoping this was an in-depth look at courtship over the centuries with some solid research and interesting concepts I didn't know before.

Instead what I got was a surface level look at the courting practices of the super rich in England. Specifically Regency era London. It really felt like an overview of things I've picked up on from years of reading regency romances. At a few points the vox populi are mentioned but not very often and not to tell me anything I didn't already know (like the practice of hand-fasting).

There was also an annoying tenancy of the author to insert too-long descriptions of events from Pride and Prejudice. Pretty sure the author is a fan, which is fine because, hell, I am too. But it just made the whole book feel like a fangirl wrote a book after reading a Wikipedia article on regency London.

That might be a bit harsh, but it's how I felt so I'm sticking to it. If you want a surface level look at (mostly) Regency courting rules and don't already know a lot of it this could be an ok read. For me, it was a bit of a failure.

Review also posted on my blog.

Copy courtesy of Pen & Sword History, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Roxana Chirilă · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof. This book does *not* live up to its title.

First of all, it's very short - under 140 pages of actual text, with a bibliography and a bunch of empty pages at the end. It also contains loads of pictures, which I'm not complaining about!, but which should give an overall impression of how much info it can actually contain.

It's very disorganized, reading more like a thematic collection of random trivia than a story in any sense. It moves up and down the chronology, occasionally referencing "Pride and Prejudice" and other literary works, and delights in anecdotes and collected fragments of all sorts of things, from poetry one might send to lovers, to a poem about premature ejaculation.

I'm not sure I'd call it a book on courtship, per se. It's more about seduction and what goes with it (whether that's marriage or disease). Divorced from the title, I guess it has its interesting stories, but if one actually wants a history of courtship or a more scholarly book with a consistent explanation of different times and changes, well, this ain't it.

Kudos for the research, no kudos for putting it all together.

[Sara Tiede · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. The narrative organization of information is all over the place. There were some editing misses, where grammar or spelling mistakes slipped in, but the clunky style was far more distracting. The author made an attempt to organize not by era but by topic, but even within that context there seemed to be no connection between any facts. If felt more like a trivia collection than a history attempting to follow the evolution of courtship. While random thoughts would be thrown in from more modern or more ancient eras, the vast majority of her research seemed to be largely Victorian, so when other eras did get mentioned it felt jarring. The subtitle of the book is "800 years of seduction," but it didn't live up to that very well. Overall, it felt highly unpolished and erratic, especially for a non fiction work.

[Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Badly organized

The book was mildly interesting, but it seemed to lack real research and it the stories or examples she included were only tangentially related to the chapter topic. I got the idea that she just threw in anecdotes and historical facts that she found interesting. For example, in her chapter in married life she suddenly dives into lesbianism and tells a story about a well-known lesbian in England. Seems like incidences of homosexuality should get its own chapter, but it doesn't, not does she even address male homosexuality in Victorian England. It felt choppy and weird.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In our world that is moving faster than ever nowadays, the notion of courtship seems to be a laughable thing, especially in face of hooking-up culture. However, courtship is a long embedded tradition, with hundreds of years behind it. From falling in love to the path of marriage, there are some ways which still continue to be practiced until now. This book is quite short, filled with interesting facts about how men and women of the past interacted with each other in the name of love (or some other ulterior motives). It is my laziness which prevented myself from finishing this book earlier.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you’re looking for a eurocentric look at courtship from ~1500 to ~1900, this is the book for you. the title is rather inaccurate, given we only get about half that much.

it’s also a very surface level look at courtship, though a good starting point if you want to know exactly what kind of things to research.

the writing itself is accessible, and the information is nicely organized too.

still, it’s a lovely look of English (& early American) courtship, & a handy reference for that particular time period, imo.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needs a different title. I bought it without looking at the page count (152), and probably would not have purchased if I'd realized how short and cursory this survey is. "800 years" is also a huge stretch. It's mostly about Regency/Victorian customs, and ONLY in Europe, and mostly just England at that. Since that's the setting I already know the most about, I was pretty disappointed in this book because I was hoping to learn a lot more based on the promise of the title. Still, I did learn a few things and it was enjoyably written.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! Although it is structured like a research paper, it is far more readable for the non-academic (it’s like pop-history). I learned a lot and would love to explore the topic (and it’s sub-categories) in more depth. I liked that the author didn’t spend much time being judgmental about the people and actions of the past — I read it to learn about history, not really compare it to the present.

[Therese Catalano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seduction has nothing to do with it

I didn't learn anything shocking. Marriage in the past & let's be honest even some times now was a business arrangement where finances & stability came into play. It's just that women now have alot more to say about who they choose or if they choose any one at all.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very basic book on the subject and frankly not nearly as organized or as in depth as I'd have liked. The book also used famous time period fiction as examples and resources for the very real subject matter it was supposed to be writing about. Over all, I found this book a disappointment.

[Jasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. It's not a deep dive, which is clear by the size of the book, but it's a fun and easy read through. Some of it is laughable, some is far to relatable, and some is just as strange as modern weirdness.

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of the book is a little deceiving, saying it's "800 years of seduction" isn't entirely true. It's mostly about the 18th and 19th century with a few stops along the lines of earlier times and even less after that. It was a fun read, but it isn't exactly what it says on the tin!

[MaryAnn Lockey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always Interesting

Many little off the cuff tidbits make this an interesting read. Maybe more fascinating are the sketches in the book. You always think of Victorian and Edwardian times as being straight laced but the illustrations certainly weren't.

[Paula Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming from the world of academia, I appreciated this book as a start of a dissertation - but I wanted more fleshing out that would come from writing the dissertation in full. Interesting topic, but wanted more on all the chapter topics.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came away from reading this with a handful of interesting trivia tidbits, and a desire to skim it quickly as the fluff between the tidbits was more conversational than I had hoped

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable short read on the history of courtship.

[Jenna Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute, quick read with lots of interesting tidbits and images. However, I do wish the title reflected the fact that this “history” is limited to that of Europe and the United States.

[Catherine Cronin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing and entertaining, but sadly lacking in diversity. The title should be “800 years of courtship in England”.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A History of Courtship" is a survey of courtship practices--mainly from the 1300s to the 1800s in England. The author described how couples met, beauty and clothing fads, acceptable gifts, improper behavior, the role of chaperons, love poems and letters, and areas of conflict after marriage. She also looked at the differences in practices between the rich and the poor. She described some scandals and other unusual stories to illustrate various behaviors. The material came from sources like diaries, guides on things like etiquette or letter writing, and preserved love poems and letters.

Keep in mind that this book isn't meant to be an exhaustive source on courtship, and the subtitle is a bit misleading. It's not about seduction techniques, and she didn't really cover 800 years. Most of the information was from the 1500s to late 1800s. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting and entertaining book.

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Lil's Vintage World · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to another Quirky Corner of History! This was such a fun little book to read. Subtitled “800 Years of Seduction Techniques”, this book is a survey of various aspects of courtship through the years. This is not a heavy history tome but a light, easy-to-read, fairly short book. The author takes a look at everything from beauty and seductive items of clothing to tokens of love and chaperones. I was particularly intrigued by how important the length of the point on a man’s shoe could be, and grateful that I have never received a “vinegar valentine”. If you’re looking for something a little different to read or maybe a source of “love” trivia then you need to check this out.