A king who fights to defend his right has a better claim on his inheritance. Struggle and largesse allow a king to gain glory and territory.” --Bertran de Born Having said that he does admit that possibility esp in Edward’s case, his contempories certainly thought so - thus the legendary manor of his death Woodwards, Colin; Woodward, Colin (2 August 2013). "The Plantaganets The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England By Dan Jones". The Washington Post . Retrieved 15 August 2020.

The Plantagenets By Dan Jones tells the story of the first eight Plantagenet monarchs that ruled England between 1154 and 1399, beginning with Henry I and ending at the fall of Richard II. Each monarch in turn has his story told; which wars he fought in, the land he gained and lost, who he married and who his children were.I have mixed feelings about this book. Some chapters, as I said above, really held my interest but others didn’t really engage me. I was disappointed to discover that Jones was often very biased, his love or hate for the monarch in question was really obvious. John is described as a ‘delinquent’, Henry III ‘feather brained’ and Edward II as ‘England’s worst ever king’; sweeping, judgmental statements I found very off putting and made it seem as though Jones literally hated these kings (perhaps he does, and that's his right, but I like my books a bit more neutral). I especially found with Edward II there was no attempt at all to be neutral; he was even blamed for the failings of Richard II. On the other hand, Edward III and Richard II’s chapters were very good reading. The author certainly knows his stuff where these two monarchs are concerned, but, more importantly, he seems to like them and to want to tell their stories. I think that made all the difference to the reading experience, for me. Unlike most historians, Mr. Jones ends the story of the Plantagenets with the disposition of Richard II, another king who irritated his nobles and lost his wars, by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke ( Henry IV ). He justifies this with the fact the Richard II was the last king of the senior male Plantagenet line. Henry was the son of one of Edward III’s younger sons, John of Gaunt – Duke of Lancaster As Jones shows, the men and women in The Plantagenets were playing a very high stakes game, and the consequences of failure could be quite steep. Meanwhile, the ordinary people of the realm, the unnamed and faceless masses who served as mere pawns in this life-sized chess match, remain unfortunately hidden from our view. There are many highlights, but I especially enjoyed the sections that covered the reigns of Edward II and Richard II, two disastrous rulers. Fans of Shakespeare’s play RICHARD II will want to revisit that text after reading this book, and the revisit will be richer for it.

Jones gives us an adrenalized crescendo in the ending chapters, which is quite the talent when presenting 600 year-old history. Leaving us at the point when Henry IV takes the throne plants several seeds of understanding how the next few generations of king Henry's went on their own bent paths into history. This book was well-researched and went into great detail on the major players of the Plantagenet dynasty. Some parts I skimmed over, while others sections I spent a lot of time on. I enjoyed Empress Matilda's story of how she battled her cousin Stephen of Blois for control of England. While she was never officially crowned queen, she succeeded in getting her son on the throne as the first Plantagenet king. Eleanor of Aquitaine was another fascinating woman who made a huge impact on Europe during her long life. And I can't forget the Edward II/Isabella of France/Piers Gaveston/Hugh Despenser drama! It was drama to rival the Tudors.

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Entertaining and informative . . . Jones has produced an absorbing narrative that will help ensure that the Plantagenet story remains ‘stamped on the English imagination’ for another generation.” 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.”

Following the death of William Aetherling, Henry I leaves his throne to his daughter, Matilda. Her husband, the handsome Geoffrey of Anjou, is the man who in legend inspired the Plantagent name: he wore a spring of yellow broom blossom (planta genista) in his hair. Four centuries before the advent of Mary Tudor, the question of whether or not England will accept a Queen regnant, has arisen. Matilda’s cousin Stephan of Blois, one of the few survivors of the white ship, seizes the crown, and so begins a long and grim civil war. Dan Jones’s great accomplishment is in taking ye olde tale and making it feel modern. He does this by using an unabashed narrative style that seldom pauses to quibble about documentation, and by focusing on personalities and climatic moments while maintaining a headlong pace. I don't know that I entirely agree with the blurb of Dan Jones' The Plantagenets. Compelling and fascinating are certainly accurate, but gripping and vivid are a bit of a stretch. I mean no offense to Jones, his work is really very interesting, but we are talking about a piece that covers more than three hundred and sixty years of history. It's a lot to absorb and doesn't lend itself to edge-of-your-seat, obsessive, got-to-know-what-happens-next, must-finish-this-chapter-before-going-to-bed type reading. Fair cousin, since it pleases you, it pleases us well," said Richard. Then he formally surrendered himself to his cousin. He and Salisbury were given two very poor horses to ride, and they set out with Bolingbroke, under armed guard, for Chester. The castle was no longer the military stronghold of a paranoid king but his prison.

Matilda and Geoffrey were never to rule England, an honour that fell to their son, who succeeded Stephen in 1154 as Henry II. Red in hair and red in passion, Henry set the pattern to come. There was war, bloodshed, brutality and massacre aplenty; but there was also innovation, consolidation and development. It was under Henry and his successors that England began to take shape as a nation, not a mere appendage of a French-speaking continental power. Richard the Lionhearted," who rebelled against his old man, then took his crown upon Henry's death, then went off crusading in the Holy Lands, leading England to be ruined by his younger brother, King John, who was openly treasonous and by all accounts a coward and a weasel pretty much his entire life. And yet, when Richard returned, he forgave his brother, and John assumed the throne after his death. This wasn't great for England. Richard is the Robin Hood guy. He also exchanged correspondence with his arch-rival in Jerusalem, Saladin, but the two never actually met, counter to various historical fantasies. I have read a few of Dan Jones' books and have concluded that he is a rare, very rare, scholar. Jones understands that histories should never be written for the benefit of other scholars. What purpose does a history serve if only a small group of academics ever read it? Jones clearly thinks otherwise and writes his books to be read by the average book-buying reader that also might be a history geek or could become one if histories weren't so esoteric. Because of this attitude I will buy anything this man writes.