Dan Jones | |
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 Jones in 2012 | |
| Born | 27 July 1981 |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Popular Historian and journalist |
| Known for |
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| Children | 3 |
Daniel Gwynne Jones (born 27 July 1981) [1] is a British popular historian, TV presenter, and journalist. He was educated at The Royal Latin School, a state grammar school in Buckingham, before attending Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Jones was born in Reading, England, in 1981 to Welsh parents. [2] [3] He was educated at The Royal Latin School, a state grammar school in Buckingham, before attending Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he achieved a first-class degree in history in 2002. [4]
Dan Jones' first history book was a popular narrative history of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381, titled Summer of Blood: The Peasants' Revolt of 1381, which was published in 2009. [5]
His second book, The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England , was published in 2012 in the United Kingdom and a year later in the United States, where it became a New York Times bestseller. [6] [7] The book, which covers the history of the Plantagenet dynasty from Henry II to Richard II, received positive reviews from critics. [8] [9]
Jones' third book, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors published in 2014, picks up where The Plantagenets leaves off and covers the period 1420–1541, from the death of Henry V to the execution of Henry VIII's cousin, Margaret Pole. [10] His fourth book, also published in 2014 is about Magna Carta and is titled Magna Carta: The Making and Legacy of the Great Charter. Jones returned to the Lancasters with his 2024 book, Henry V – The Astonishing Rise of England's Greatest Warrior King. [11]
Jones' next book, The Templars, The Rise and the Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors, was published in September 2017 about the Knights Templar. [12] Jones also worked as a historical consultant on the 2018 History historical drama Knightfall , presenting the official podcast. [13]
In August 2018, he published The Colour of Time: A New History of the World, 1850–1960 illustrated by Marina Amaral. He collaborated with Amaral again in 2020 for the book The World Aflame. Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Land was published on 5 September 2019. It deals with the Crusades from 1096 onwards. Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages was published by Head of Zeus in 2021.
His first historical fiction debut began with his 2022 book Essex Dogs which is part of a planned trilogy. It details the life of a platoon of archers and men-at-arms during the Hundred Years' War. [14]
In 2022, Jones started his own podcast through Somethin' Else and Sony Music Entertainment called This Is History: A Dynasty to Die For, recounting much of the content of his 2012 book, The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England.
In 2014, Jones' book The Plantagenets was adapted for television as a four-part series on Channel 5 entitled Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets . [15]
Jones has also made a twelve-part series for Channel 5, Secrets of Great British Castles . [16]
In April 2016 he co-wrote and co-presented, with Suzannah Lipscomb, Henry VIII and His Six Wives , shown on Channel 5. [17]
In May 2017 he co-wrote and co-presented a three-part docu-drama, Elizabeth I, with Suzannah Lipscomb. It was broadcast on Channel 5. [18]
In May and June 2017, Jones, with Suzannah Lipscomb and engineer Rob Bell, presented The Great Fire, for Channel 5, a series in which the three presenters walked the actual route the Great Fire of London fire took across the city. [19] [20] [21]
In June 2018 he presented a three-part series for Channel 5, Building Britain's Canals.
Jones has also made a four-part documentary series entitled Britain's Bloody Crown about the Wars of the Roses.
Over four weeks in March 2019, Jones presented London: 2,000 Years of History alongside Lipscomb and Bell. [22]
Jones is a journalist. He is a columnist at the London Evening Standard, where he writes regularly about sport. [23] He has written for The Times , [24] [25] [26] The Sunday Times , [27] [28] [29] The Telegraph , [30] [31] [32] [33] The Spectator , [34] The Daily Beast and Newsweek , [35] The Literary Review , the New Statesman , [36] GQ , BBC History and History Today .
Jones lives in Staines-upon-Thames with his wife, two daughters and son.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty | Presenter | 4 episodes |
| 2015–16 | Secrets of Great British Castles | 12 episodes; Co-writer | |
| 2016 | The Wright Stuff | Guest | episode: "Episode No. 21.4" |
| Britain's Bloody Crown | Presenter | 4 episodes | |
| Henry VIII and His Six Wives | Co-presenter | 4 episodes; with Suzannah Lipscomb | |
| 2017 | 1066: A Year to Conquer England | Self /Historian | 2 episodes |
| Elizabeth I | Co-presenter | 3 episodes; with Suzannah Lipscomb | |
| The Great Fire: In Real Time | 3 episodes; with Suzannah Lipscomb and Rob Bell | ||
| 2017–18 | Secrets of the National Trust | Guest presenter | 5 episodes |
| 2018 | Buried: Knights Templar and the Holy Grail | Self /Historian | 4 episodes |
| Building Britain's Canals | Presenter | 3 episodes | |
| Christmas University Challenge | Contestant | episode: "Pembroke College, Cambridge v King's London" | |
| 2019 | London: 2000 Years of History | Co-presenter | 4 episodes; with Suzannah Lipscomb and Rob Bell |
| 2020 | Walking Britain's Roman Roads | Presenter | 6 episodes |
Richard I, known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony; Lord of Cyprus; Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and was therefore not expected to become king, but his two elder brothers predeceased their father.
Anne of Bohemia, also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth of Pomerania. Her death at the age of 28 was believed to have been caused by plague.
Geoffrey V, called the Fair or Plantagenet, was the count of Anjou, Touraine and Maine by inheritance from 1129, and also duke of Normandy by his marriage claim, and conquest, from 1144.
The White Ship was a vessel transporting many nobles, including the heir to the English throne, that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur during a trip from France to England on 25 November 1120. Only one of approximately 300 people aboard, a butcher from Rouen, survived.
The Palace of Beaulieu or Newhall is a former royal palace in Boreham, Essex, England, north-east of Chelmsford. The surviving part is a Grade I listed building. The property is currently occupied by New Hall School.
Peter Alan Oborne is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the former chief political commentator of The Daily Telegraph, from which he resigned in early 2015. He is author of The Rise of Political Lying (2005), The Triumph of the Political Class (2007), and The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism (2021), and along with Frances Weaver of the 2011 pamphlet Guilty Men. He has also authored a number of books about cricket. He writes a political column for Declassified UK, Double Down News, openDemocracy, Middle East Eye and a diary column for the Byline Times.
Robert de Craon or Robert Burgundio was the second Grand Master of the Knights Templar from June 1136 until his death. He was instrumental in getting papal sanction for the Templar Order, making it independent from ecclesiastical and secular authorities. Robert negotiated the expansion of the Order into the Iberian peninsula with the acquisition of castles and territory. He died on 13 January 1149 and was succeeded by Everard des Barres.
Everard des Barres was the third Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1147 to 1152.
Ralph of Coggeshall, English chronicler, was at first a monk and afterwards sixth abbot (1207–1218) of Coggeshall Abbey, an Essex foundation of the Cistercian order. He is also known for his chronicles on the Third Crusade and of Gerard of Ridefort.
The Siege of Acre took place in 1291 and resulted in the Crusaders' losing control of Acre to the Mamluks. It is considered one of the most important battles of the period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end of further crusades to the Levant. When Acre fell, the Crusaders lost their last major stronghold of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. They still maintained a fortress at the northern city of Tartus, engaged in some coastal raids, and attempted an incursion from the tiny island of Ruad; but, when they lost that, too, in a siege in 1302, the Crusaders no longer controlled any part of the Holy Land.
The history of England during the Late Middle Ages covers from the thirteenth century, the end of the Angevins, and the accession of Henry II – considered by many to mark the start of the Plantagenet dynasty – until the accession to the throne of the Tudor dynasty in 1485, which is often taken as the most convenient marker for the end of the Middle Ages and the start of the English Renaissance and early modern Britain.
Ironclad is a 2011 British action historical drama film directed by Jonathan English. Written by English and Erick Kastel, based on a screenplay by Stephen McDool, the cast includes James Purefoy, Brian Cox, Kate Mara, Paul Giamatti, Vladimir Kulich, Mackenzie Crook, Jason Flemyng, Derek Jacobi, and Charles Dance. The film chronicles the siege of Rochester Castle by King John in 1215. The film was shot entirely in Wales in 2009 and produced on a budget of $25 million.
Kate Williams is a British historian, author, and television presenter. She is a professor of public engagement with history at the University of Reading.
Sir Edmund Mortimer IV was an English nobleman and landowner who played a part in the rebellions of the Welsh leader Owain Glyndŵr and of the Percy family against King Henry IV, at the beginning of the 15th century. He perished at the siege of Harlech as part of these conflicts. He was related to many members of the English royal family through his mother, Princess Philippa, Countess of Ulster, who was a granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.
Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb is a British historian and professor emerita at the University of Roehampton, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Higher Education Academy and the Society of Antiquaries, and has for many years contributed a regular column to History Today. She has written and edited a number of books, presented numerous historical documentaries on TV and is host of the Not Just the Tudors podcast from History Hit. She is also a royal historian for NBC.
Épistre Contenant le Procès Criminel Faict à l'Encontre de la Royne Anne Boullant d'Angleterre, or A Letter Containing the Criminal Charges Laid Against Queen Anne Boleyn of England, is a 1,318-line poem written in French in 1536, by Lancelot de Carle, secretary to the French ambassador to England, Antoine de Castelnau.
Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty is a British television documentary about the Plantagenets presented by Dan Jones and first broadcast from 27 November to 18 December 2014. The four-part documentary follows the period from Henry II to Richard II.
Henry VIII and His Six Wives is a four-part British documentary first broadcast in 2016 about Henry VIII and his wives, chronicling his turbulent private life and how it shaped Britain.
The Plantagenets: The Kings and Queens Who Made England is a history book written by Dan Jones. It was published in 2012 in the United Kingdom and a year later in the United States, where it was listed on the New York Times bestseller list. The book, which covers the history of the Plantagenet dynasty from Henry II to Richard II, received mostly positive reviews from critics.
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