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The Plantagenets

The Kings Who Made England

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The Plantagenets

By: Dan Jones
Narrated by: Dan Jones
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£5.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST. Cancel monthly.

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This brilliant new audiobook explores the lives of eight generations of the greatest kings and queens that this country has ever seen, and the worst. The Plantagenets – their story is the story of Britain.

England’s greatest royal dynasty, the Plantagenets, ruled over England through eight generations of kings. Their remarkable reign saw England emerge from the Dark Ages to become a highly organised kingdom that spanned a vast expanse of Europe. Plantagenet rule saw the establishment of laws and creation of artworks, monuments and tombs which survive to this day, and continue to speak of their sophistication, brutality and secrets.

Dan Jones brings you a new vision of this battle-scarred history. From the Crusades, to King John’s humbling over Magna Carta and the tragic reign of the last Plantagenet, Richard II – this is a blow-by-blow account of England’s most thrilling age.

 Europe Great Britain Historical Medieval Politics & Activism Royalty England Middle Ages United Kingdom Law Tudor Crusade
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Critic reviews

‘Stonking narrative history told with pace, wit and scholarship about the bloody dynasty that produced some of England’s most brilliant, brutal kings’ Observer
‘Colourful and engaging … Jones has produced an absorbing narrative that will help ensure that the Plantagenet story remains stamped on the English imagination’ Sunday Times
‘Unapologetically about powerful people, their foibles, their passions and their weaknesses … vivid descriptions of battles and tournaments, ladies in fine velvet and knights in shining armour crowd the pages of this highly engaging narrative’ Evening Standard
‘Action-packed … Filled with fighting, personality clashes, betrayal and bouts of the famous Plantagenet rage’ Daily Telegraph
‘Dan Jones expertly weaves an enormous medieval tapestry, ranging from the Middles East of Richard the Lionheart's Third Crusade to the battlefields of the Hundred Years War’ Sunday Telegraph
‘This is an unashamedly royal history and even the most insatiable appetite for chivalric deeds and aristocratic violence will be sated by its conclusion’ Sunday Times
All stars
Most relevant
I've already listened to the author's excellent books: The Templars and The Hollow Crown, and so was confident that I would enjoy the present book. I wasn't disappointed: it's medieval history told with verve by a scholar of the period. Ideally I should have listened to this book before the Hollow Crown as the latter covers the later period of Plantagenet history and the present book sets the scene for the War of the Roses that is a central theme of the Hollow Crown. All three books are admirably read by the author.
I greatly enjoyed the book, but am left, as I often am, saddened by the misery, sacrifice of lives and draining of the public purse caused by the ambitions of rulers to go to war and also by the cruelties enacted in the name of religion. It's depressing that these blights on human life as still happening.

Entertaining and scholarly

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This was a great overview of a fascinating period. It is well worth a listen.

Fascinating and well read

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This is just a great book from start to finish and added depth and detail to parts of history I was familiar with but hadn't made the links between. It's detailed but you don't get lost in the detail. The author is skilled at describing a lot of history without losing you along the way, which can sometimes be tough with so much to cover. It might seem intimidating at 27 hours but it's the time needed to really get into the details of the reign of the Plantagenets and you certainly never get bored of it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend to anyone interested in British history.

Great historical book

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An excellent history of England, covering the years 1100 to 1400s, I found this a riveting listen, if you're into history, this is an must have! Recommended!

History of England

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What a wonderful book. It makes history live in a way I was not used to growing up. It needs to be said that the narrator enhances the book in a way few others could.

Great

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