Yes, my find-Game-of-Thrones-in-history fetish is well known. You don’t need me to rehash it.
But one thing I’m not clear on: what is the fascination people have with the Tudors? Is it because of Henry VIII? Elizabeth I? The tv shows?
Because I find the Plantagenets far more fascinating. This is the story of how the English empire began to extend its greasy tentacles. Packed with enough court intrigue to suffocate a horse.
And Dan Jones is an excellent chronicler of it all. Yes, there are a lot of names to keep track of but I got the gist of who sat on the throne and why, as well as who the power was behind the throne.
Jones is a tight narrative chronicler so if you’re looking for deeper insight into how people lived in this era, look elsewhere. And if you don’t care to continuously learn the names of kings, queens, random duchies in Britain and France, and dozens of battles, then this absolutely isn’t for you.
But if you’re historic-curious like me, have a bantam weight understanding of this era, and want to come away sufficiently educated and eager for the next volume (The Wars of the Roses) then you gotta pick this one up. It’s readable, not too dense, and never loses focus of the story it is presenting the reader. Jones is the exact kind of historian I like to read, moving just far enough beyond The facts, ma’am but not getting bogged down in minute detail. I can’t wait to read the rest of his stuff.