The Plantagenets

Oh, star ratings are hard for me. Two stars seems overly harsh, but then I tend to rate everything I read as a 3 or 4. And as interesting as the subject matter for this book is, for me there was quite a bit missing. I wanted to read this book, because the most of the Plantagenet era was a blank spot for me. I read [b:Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life 111220 Eleanor of Aquitaine A Life Alison Weir https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320538974s/111220.jpg 977136] years ago and remember being fascinated by the unraveling of Henry II's reign as his children dismantled his empire in their competition for its control. (Talk about shooting your own foot.) And I studied Henry VIII in high school. But all of the Henrys and Edwards and other folks in between? I was curious. And the stories of the Plantagenets in this book are fascinating - both the individual events, like the drowning of William Aetheling in a drunken shipwreck that set off a civil war, and the longer narrative of how constant conflict between the Plantagenet kings and the upper nobility of England led to the gradual, negotiated formation of the institutions that came to define the English royal government. But what was really missing was a greater sense of context, both within English society and within Europe. Other things that happened during this time period that were barely mentioned? How about two papal schisms? Or the formation of an English cultural identity and eventual adoption of English as a courtly language? Or what about the Little Ice Age? And throughout this book I kept wondering, how much did all of this intrigue actually affect the lives of everyone else? As captivating as the fights of kings and upper nobles may be, I would get frustrated whenever I tried to think about the larger context. Really, I guess I wish this book was more like [b:A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century 568236 A Distant Mirror The Calamitous 14th Century Barbara W. Tuchman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403200553s/568236.jpg 227267], which created such a rich portrait of European society during the 14th century. When this book's narrative overlapped with that time period, the shortcomings of [b:The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England 15811559 The Plantagenets The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England Dan Jones https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366387829s/15811559.jpg 17229073] were particularly apparent.

An entertaining and well written account of the fascinating Plantagenet family. With nearly 200 years of kings who are either named Henry, Edward or Richard (and sometimes John), Dan Jones did an excellent job at not only making the monarchs easily distinguishable from each other but also added enough flavour to the narrative that kept the reader going despite the length of this book, all without sacrificing chronology and historical accuracy.

With ancestry mostly from northern Europe, especially the British Isles, I've always been somewhat interested in the English monarchs. And because my own ancestors on my father's side came from Lancashire, I've always sided with the Lancastrians in the Shakespeare plays about the War of the Roses. Henry IV was the first Lancastrian King, though, preceded by the Plantagenets, and it's important to understand the period 1154 to 1399. This book–which I listened to, but also had access to a print copy including maps and family trees–was fascinating and very easy to follow.