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Powers and Thrones

A New History of the Middle Ages

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Powers and Thrones

By: Dan Jones
Narrated by: Dan Jones
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About this listen

From the best-selling author of The Templars, Dan Jones' epic new history tells nothing less than the story of how the world we know today came to be built.

Across 16 chapters, blending Dan Jones' trademark gripping narrative style with authoritative analysis, Powers and Thrones shows how, at each stage in this story, successive Western powers thrived by attracting - or stealing - the most valuable resources, ideas and people from the rest of the world. It casts new light on iconic locations - Rome, Paris, Venice, Constantinople - and it features some of history's most famous and notorious men and women.

This is a book written about - and for - an age of profound change, and it asks the biggest questions about the West both then and now. Where did we come from? What made us? Where do we go from here?

©2021 Dan Jones (P)2021 W F Howes Civilisation Europe Great Britain World Middle Ages Imperialism Ancient History England Crusade
All stars
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Comprehensive, good to know more about the world outside of Europe. Easy to listen to.

Loved it

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Thoroughly enjoyed this sweeping history of the Medieval Era. The only flat spot I found to be were the chapter regarding the construction of buildings and castles. Overall a great narrative history.

Great overview of the Middle Ages.

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This is a very big-picture survey of the Middle Ages: there isn’t room for a lot of detail. I’m not a historian, so while I’d picked up bits here and there over the years, they were just isolated details. As a sweeping narrative weaving together many strands, this book brings organisation to my random facts. I loved it!

Great sweep through Middle Ages

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I love all of Dan Jones books, but this one is the crème de la creme! Of the hundreds of books I have read on English history and the Wars of the Roses, this book explains it the best.

I particularly loved the Dan’s explanation of the rise of the Catholic Church after the fall of the Roman Empire.

If you are into English history, this is the book for you!

Best English History Book Ever Written

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Half way through the book, I remember thinking, I must write that as the review. So here it is, “I felt like a dog sticking his head out a car window.” Maybe that makes sense to you…

Quite astonishing

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I highly recommend this book for those who like factual details rather an entertaining read.
I really enjoyed hearing how the European world fared in the Medieval times, as I have studied Britain in detail over the decades.
I gave 5 stars overall for the excellent facts and the narration was pleasant to the ear.
Well done Dan Jones

Exceptional Research

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Factual, entertaining and leaving the listener wanting more! Thank you Dan... just brilliant and I cannot wait for your next book!

A Tour de Force

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Fantastic way to absorb and make sense of this historical time. I loved it a lot.

Fantastic

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Dan Jones provides us with a compelling chronological narrative of the European Middle Ages in its totality. To either it’s fault or benefit he goes beyond the conventional time period providing an account of the fall of the Roman Empire and the early 16th century.

Alongside a general chronology of events, chapters have a focus on particular developments within culture, religion, architecture and military.

Jones’s narration is very well performed. A good choice since his vocal emphasis is clearly in line with his authorial intentions.

In terms of narrative I found the book underwhelming, aside from vague gestures to relevancy in the 21st century I found deeper analysis lacking.

Likewise, the use of analogies to modern culture, news and technology I find to detract from a more grounded discussion of the topic.

Lastly, I found the conclusion underwhelming, seeming more to wrap up hastily than to bring the various strands of thought to a compelling finale. There is no discussion of the topics analysed in previous chapters, and no cohesive narrative to bind these various discussions together.

Altogether it’s a reasonable overview of the topic.

Decent chronological history

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This is a great book, told well. This history was not new to me as a history reader, but the placement of events in context to other events and the cultural impacts was great to hear. Highly recommended.

Excellent

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