The Plantagenets - Dan Jones

The Plantagenets

By Dan Jones

  • Release Date: 2013-04-18
  • Genre: European History
Score: 4
4
From 304 Ratings

Description

The New York Times bestseller, from the author of Powers and Thrones, that tells the story of Britain’s greatest and worst dynasty—“a real-life Game of Thrones” (The Wall Street Journal)

The first Plantagenet kings inherited a blood-soaked realm from the Normans and transformed it into an empire that stretched at its peak from Scotland to Jerusalem. In this epic narrative history of courage, treachery, ambition, and deception, Dan Jones resurrects the unruly royal dynasty that preceded the Tudors. They produced England’s best and worst kings: Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, twice a queen and the most famous woman in Christendom; their son Richard the Lionheart, who fought Saladin in the Third Crusade; and his conniving brother King John, who was forced to grant his people new rights under the Magna Carta, the basis for our own bill of rights. Combining the latest academic research with a gift for storytelling, Jones vividly recreates the great battles of Bannockburn, Crécy, and Sluys and reveals how the maligned kings Edward II and Richard II met their downfalls. This is the era of chivalry and the Black Death, the Knights Templar, the founding of parliament, and the Hundred Years’ War, when England’s national identity was forged by the sword.

Reviews

  • Historical Page-Turner

    5
    By Paul1980ABC
    Dan Jones’ The Plantagenets transforms soporific classroom fodder into a vibrant and compelling narrative. Contemporary sources paint a vivid picture of a sophisticated and turbulent period, with the ebb and flow of triumph and tragedy framed by the human foibles that drove them. Compelling reading.
  • Awesome

    5
    By lishy138
    Great way to learn your history and how kings and Queens started.
  • Outstanding Survey

    5
    By ChgoLaw67
    This is an outstanding historical survey of the English Plantagenet Dynasty which ruled England in the Middle Ages from 1120 to 1399. The book is well-research, thoughtful, and makes sure to describe more than the battles. The book discusses how the English legal system developed, how the Magna Carta had a long-lasting impace on Middle Ages England. The writing style is quite good as well. Anyone interested in English or American history should read this book very carefully.
  • Amazing

    5
    By kunal00
    Great book
  • Really interesting!

    5
    By azxv11
    I really enjoyed this book. It is informative but not in a dry way. It is great storytelling about a really interesting time in European history. The characters of history are brought to life and the way Dan jones tells this story bridges the gap between the time the characters lived so long ago and today.
  • The Plantagenets

    5
    By CathrinW
    A very enjoyable as informative read.
  • I Loved This Book

    5
    By Pamelarosew
    At 750 pages, I wasn't sure I would ever finish it. I downloaded sample first, but got so "into" it, that ended up buying it. It is quite a page-turner. I had never read about most of these kings. But it was really good. I recommend this book.

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