Author | Dan Jones |
---|---|
Language | English |
Subject | Plantagenet Dynasty |
Genre | History |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | May 10, 2012 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Book |
Pages | 636 |
ISBN | 978-0143124924 |
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. [1] [2] The book, which covers the history of the Plantagenet dynasty from Henry II to Richard II, received mostly positive reviews from critics. [3] [4]
The Plantagenets: The Kings and Queens Who Made England is divided into seven sections, termed by Jones as "ages". These sections successively deal with periods in the history of the Plantagenet dynasty's rule over England. [5]
The Plantagenets: The Kings and Queens Who Made England was positively received. HistoryNet, in their review of the book, described it as "lively and entertaining" and "a must for those interested in medieval history". [6] Becca Selby, writing in The Manchester Historian, gave a positive review, praising the book's writing style, which she likened to that of a work of historical fiction. [7] David Horspool of The Daily Telegraph gave it five stars out of five, calling it "a great story" and described Jones' writing as inspiring the feel of an "impressively confident guide". [5] Christina Hardyment, in a review in The Independent , gave the book a more measured review, praising the work's characterisation and insight, but finding that its presentation of cycles of prosperity and hardship was confusing, and that it lacked "a proper presentation of the profoundly religious medieval mindset", which made understanding the mindset of the featured kings harder. [8] Ben Wilson, writing in the New Statesman , praised the book, declaring that it described the period "with verve", and that Jones' insights into the nature of medieval rule were good. [9]
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.
Sharon Kay Penman was an American historical novelist, published in the UK as Sharon Penman. She was best known for the Welsh Princes Trilogy and the Plantagenet series. In addition, she wrote four medieval mysteries, the first of which, The Queen's Man, was a finalist in 1996 for the Best First Mystery Edgar Award.
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.
Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name Ēadweard, composed of the elements ēad "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and weard "guardian, protector”.
Arthur I was 4th Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany between 1196 and 1203. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and Constance, Duchess of Brittany. Through Geoffrey, Arthur was the grandson of Henry II, King of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the nephew of King Richard I of England.
Eleanor of England, was Queen of Castile and Toledo as the wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile. She was the sixth child and second daughter of Henry II, King of England, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She served as Regent of Castile during the minority of her son Henry I for 26 days between the death of her spouse and her own death in 1214.
Fulk I of Anjou, known by the nickname Foulques le Roux, was a Frankish nobleman who held several titles in West Francia, including Viscount and later Count of Tours from 905, Count of Nantes from 910 to 919, and the first Count of Anjou from 929 until his death.
The Saladin tithe, or the Aid of 1188, was a tax levied in England and, to some extent, France, in 1188, in response to the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187.
The Harrying of the North was a series of military campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate Northern England, where the presence of the last Wessex claimant, Edgar Ætheling, had encouraged Anglo-Saxon Northumbrian, Anglo-Scandinavian and Danish rebellions. William paid the Danes to go home, but the remaining rebels refused to meet him in battle, and he decided to starve them out by laying waste to the Northern shires using scorched earth tactics, especially in the historic county of Yorkshire and the city of York, before relieving the English aristocracy of their positions, and installing Norman aristocrats throughout the region.
Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall was a British writer, particularly well known for her works of popular national history for children. She is best known for her 1905 work Our Island Story, which was published abroad as An Island Story: A Child's History Of England.
Richard William Barber is a British historian who has published several books about medieval history and literature. His book The Knight and Chivalry, about the interplay between history and literature, won the Somerset Maugham Award, a well-known British literary prize, in 1971. A similarly-themed 2004 book, The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief, was widely praised in the UK press, and received major reviews in The New York Times and The New Republic.
Alison Weir is a British author and public historian. She primarily writes about the history of English royal women and families, in the form of biographies that explore their historical setting. She has also written numerous works of historical fiction.
Plantagenet Somerset Fry, born Peter George Robin Fry, sometimes used the names 'Peter George Robin Somerset Fry' and 'Peter George Robin Plantagenet Somerset Fry', was a British historian and author of more than 50 books. In his youth, he added Somerset to his surname by deed poll, the Fry family originating from Wells in that county, and Plantagenet was a nickname which he adopted at university, relating to his advocacy of Richard III.
Daniel Gwynne Jones 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.
Deadly Medicine is a 1988 non-fiction true crime book by Kelly Moore and Dan Reed that was adapted for television in 1991, as an NBC Movie-of-the-Week by the same name. The book was first published in November 1988 and focused on the murder case of convicted serial killer Genene Jones.
Richard Firth Green is a Canadian scholar who specializes in Middle English literature. He is an Academy Professor of English (Emeritus) at Ohio State University and the author of three monographs on the social life, law, and literature of the late Middle English period.
The Angevin kings of England were Henry II and his sons, Richard I and John, who ruled England from 1154 to 1216. With ancestral lands in Anjou, they were related to the Norman kings of England through Matilda, the daughter of Henry I, and Henry II's mother. They were also related to the earlier Anglo-Saxon kings of England through Matilda's great-great grandfather, Edmund Ironside. Their descendants, the main line of Plantagenets, continued to rule England until 1485; some historians make no distinction between the Angevins and the Plantagenets, while others name John's son Henry III the first Plantagenet king.
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.
Hubert's Arthur is an alternative history novel by the eccentric English writer Frederick Rolfe posthumously published by A. J. A. Symons in 1935. It started as a collaboration between Rolfe and Harry Pirie-Gordon, but in the end the latter only supplied the copious heraldic details pertaining to the characters.