The Plantagenets

The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England

By: Dan Jones

Narrated by: Dan Jones

Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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

The first Plantagenet king inherited a blood-soaked kingdom from the Normans and transformed it into an empire stretched at its peak from Scotland to Jerusalem. In this epic history, Dan Jones vividly resurrects this fierce and seductive royal dynasty and its mythic world. We meet the captivating Eleanor of Aquitaine, twice queen and the most famous woman in Christendom; her son, Richard the Lionheart, who fought Saladin in the Third Crusade; and King John, a tyrant who was forced to sign Magna Carta, which formed the basis of our own Bill of Rights. This is the era of chivalry, of Robin Hood and the Knights Templar, the Black Death, the founding of Parliament, the Black Prince, and the Hundred Year’s War. It will appeal as much to listeners of Tudor history as to fans of Game of Thrones.

©2013 Dan Jones (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Like the medieval chroniclers he quarries for juicy anecdotes, Jones has opted for a bold narrative approach anchored firmly upon the personalities of the monarchs themselves yet deftly marshaling a vast supporting cast of counts, dukes, and bishops. . . . Fast-paced and accessible, The Plantagenets is old-fashioned storytelling and will be particularly appreciated by those who like their history red in tooth and claw. Mr. Jones tackles his subject with obvious relish.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Delicious . . . Jones has produced a rollicking, compelling book produced a rollicking, compelling book about a rollicking, compelling dynasty, one that makes the Tudors who followed them a century later look like ginger pussycats. . . . The Plantagenets is told with the latest historical evidence and rich in detail and scene-setting. You can almost smell the sea salt as the White Ship sinks, and hear the screams of the tortured at the execution grounds at Tyburn.”—USA Today

“Jones has brought the Plantagenets out of the shadows, revealing them in all their epic heroism and depravity. His is an engaging and readable account—itself an accomplishment given the gaps in medieval sources and a 300-year tableau—and yet researched with the exacting standards of an academician. The result is an enjoyable, often harrowing journey through a bloody, insecure era in which many of the underpinnings of English kingship and Anglo-American constitutional thinking were formed.”—The Washington Post

History Becomes Tangible

What makes this book awesome is that it makes historical figures into REAL people all of us can know as flesh and blood and bones and not just some factoid in the pages of a dusty boring schoolbook. Another thing I appreciated is the gift that History and a good author so often gives...the illustration of the same mistakes made over and over perhaps by different people in different ages and generations...yet the same mistakes. History is nothing if not cyclical. If it weren't for being History, this book could be a page out of Now.

A great book

I was leary of this because it was lengthy. But I didn't want it to end. It was every bit as entertaining as fictional accounts of the period.

Detailed Overview of the Plantagenet Era

I enjoyed this book very much. It pulled together a lot of the history that I only knew in bits and pieces. The narration was excellent. The writing was clear and concise.

Readable History and Masterful Storytelling

Dan Jones has done a masterful job of telling the history of Plantagenet kingship. Selecting the key events over the centuries to both inform and entertain, this work is well worth the time invested.

Fascinating history told from a fresh perspective

Love Dan Jones' documentaries and his books. Hard to go wrong with this historian in either medium.

Great for history lovers

Have always loved this period of history and this did not disappoint. Can be a little confusing with all the names but overall not too much of an issue.

I’m informative and enjoyable

Good listen. A great review of the Plantagenets. Good pace. Enjoyable and very informative. Easy to keep up with the “family line”.

Old book--new narrator

This book is actually very good, I know because I already have the earlier version narrated by Clive Chafer. This is a new recording narrated by the author himself, Dan Jones. I have many of this author's books and he is a very good narrator, however I wouldn't have used up a credit had I known the exact same text would be read, just by a different narrator.

I am fascinated by the English Monarchy from the Anglo-Saxon days on up through the Tudors and this is a very well researched and written account of a dynasty that ruled for a large amount of that time. From King Henry II until the deposition of King Richard II, Mr. Jones gives us both the big details and the small juicy facts pertaining to each of the Plantagenets who ruled and some who didn't.

If you haven't experienced this yet, it is well worth having a listen. And in response to the reviewer who implied it felt like a boring class lecture...you must have had some amazing lecturers at your school, as I don't find Mr. Jones boring at all!! He certainly does not remind me of boring, dry, and monotone lectures I've experienced in the past.

Dan does it again

Every book I’ve read of Dan’s has been engaging and a joy in which to listen. He has an innate way of telling a recount of history that reads like a novel. I’ve long been wanting to do a deeper dive into the Plantagenet Dynasty and I’m glad I waited for Dan’s book.

Thoroughly enjoyable book!

The Plantagenets was absorbing from start to finish. The author’s narration was excellent. Highly recommend this fascinating and well-told history lesson!