Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Plantagenets:
When in doubt, make them sign the Magna Carta again.
Quick synopsis:
The story of the House of Plantagenet in England (and some other places, kinda).
Fact for Non-History People:
“Plantagenet” does have to do with plants! It’s from Latin for broom flower. Whatever that is.
Fact for History Nerds:
The Plantagenets signed the Magna Carta six times across three different kings.
My Take on The Plantagenets:
It’s hard to call a 500-page book breezy, but everything I have read from Dan Jones can be described that way. In The Plantagenets, Jones tells the story of the royal house of England which spans the years from the tail end of the 1100s to nearly 1500. This is a lot and Jones admits as much in his prologue. Reading it doesn’t feel that way, though.
Jones is basically doing a speed run to try and capture the essence of these rulers and the various antagonists and protagonists all around them. Jones makes this all readable by doing two things exceptionally well. First, he makes sure to tell self-contained stories in each chapter so that the reader knows who the main players are and what their relationships with each other are. Many books which try to cover long time periods will often try to write about ideas and themes. I find those books often feel muddled and that time jumps back and forth as you are reading which causes further confusion. Jones keeps a tight focus on the people and uses them to tell the story. A discerning eye will still see themes emerge, they just aren’t harped on.
Secondly, and more importantly, Jones tells the interesting stories and cuts extraneous material. I know a few fantastic books on specific rulers in the book and there is plenty which was left on the cutting room floor. However, this book would have been 5,000 pages instead. Even I wouldn’t read that! (I mean, maybe I would. I might have a problem.) In the end, I still felt like I knew who these characters were generally and what their motives were.
It’s another great book from Jones who doesn’t have a single weak entry in his catalogue.
Verdict:
It’s Dan Jones. Always read Dan Jones. Buy it here!
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