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.

I don't think a single Plantagenet died without a certain amount of dramatic irony, or some variety of contention over the succession. I am a self proclaimed history geek. Although my first love was, and always will be, Historical Fiction, over the years I have developed an intense love affair with many well written History books of the non-fiction variety. I have said many time, on here no less, that a good Historical Fiction book should peak my interest and make me seek out factual books on the given subject to fill in the gaps and give me the "true" picture. As a result, I am always excited when I found one of the said History books that I can not only enjoy, but recommend. The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens who made England by British historian Dan Jones is just such a book. And then there's Edward II, who gave so many honours and jewels and important jobs to his "dear friend" Piers Gaveston that everyone else in the kingdom, including his wife, started to feel left out. Jones takes the conservative view that Edward and Gaveston might just have been Really (Really) Good Friends, but I have my doubts. If only the lords had taken the sensible course advised by Mitchell and Webb, yet another civil war might have been avoided. What I learned from this book: the Plantagenets were so batshit crazy that they make the situations in Game of Thrones (ASoIaF) look comparatively mundane. Outstanding . . . Majestic in its sweep, compelling in its storytelling, this is narrative history at its best. A thrilling dynastic history of royal intrigues, violent skullduggery, and brutal warfare across two centuries of British history.”

The short version: If you already thought the Plantagenets were murderous, disloyal, loyal to a fault, power hungry crazies, this will at minimum augment your feelings. It's like witnessing a centuries long pileup on the Jersey turnpike. Course, I'm at a bit of an advantage having known some of their history before heading in, so I saw the bloody writing on the castle walls here and there. Jones uses original sources as his foundation on which he builds a layered, accessible recounting of how it was often father against son against wife against brother, motivated by friendship and love and fed by treachery and betrayal as they tried to obtain, steal, maintain, protect, and cling to power. He does this with short, focused chapters and deftly utilized references to future events that help reveal the impact of decisions made without giving anything away. In writing this volume, Mr. Jones has done an excellent job of recounting the events that both led to the House of Plantagenet and the events that occurred in the approximately 250 years that they ruled England. He has a very reader friendly writing style and this book is written for a general audience. He does not footnote, but has a fairly extensive bibliography/recommended reading list following the text. 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. Nevertheless, the central characters of the book are the Plantagenet kings who, regardless of their differing fortunes, all shared certain distinct family characteristics—namely pride, ambition, cruelty, greed and violent tempers. In fact, as the text reveals, hot tempers often seem to have proved their undoing.

It ushered in much more; it ushered in the devil’s brood. It ushered in the best of kings and the worst of kings. It ushered in the Plantagenets. Reputedly descended from a daughter of Satan, they were set to become England’s longest reigning dynasty. There is a story worth telling. It’s a story told with enthusiasm, insight and panache by Dan Jones in the recently published The Plantagenets: the Kings Who Made England.

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I enjoyed the book, but I deeply disagree with the author's contention that Richard II was the end of the Plantagenets. Not! The Lancasters and Yorks were Plantas also, but I get the idea that the book should end with the downfall of another wonky family member (and so Jones can write separate books on that Roses thing). In fact, I found my knowledge of Richard II was not that good, so the last chapter was rather enlightening. This is where the wild ride starts, as Henry and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine created the devil's brood, out of which arose Richard I and John (who doesn't need a numeral after his name because there will never be another King John). Here the book does try a bit to give John some credit for something, but boooo-hisss-snarl, he really was the Darth Vader of his time.

The measure of ‘good’ here really needs to be refined. Good means effective. It does not mean as in good as in good; anything but, if you take my meaning. For Jones the effective include Henry II, Richard I, Edward I and Edward III. The bad, or rather the ineffectual, are King John (isn’t he on every list of great historical baddies?), Henry III, Edward II and Richard II.

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As far as I could tell, every Plantagenet story has a fitting twist to the tale. For example, take the story of Stephen and Matilda (well, Empress Matilda. Confusingly, there are at least four important Matildas in the full story). When Henry I realized he had no male heir, he chose his daughter Matilda as his successor. After all, she was already an empress and an experienced administrator, even if she did have the undeniable character flaw of being female. Henry I, sensing storms ahead, made all his barons swear fealty to his daughter Matilda--twice. Even so, as soon as he died, Cousin Stephen stepped in, and, being male, promptly swayed the lords to his banner. After a decades-long civil war, Matilda retreated to France--and sent over her son, Henry II, who had the sterling qualifications of not only being the rightful heir, but also of being male. After a few brief and decisive victories, Stephen was forced to take the humiliating course of naming Henry II as heir over his own children. He died knowing his attempt at dynasty had failed, and that Matilda's long game had paid out. A few times, it felt like we're made privy to Jones' personal positive feelings about Britain and it's history. I'm not sure it's his intention but it comes across that way.

A drunken outing, a ship sinks and a future kiing is dead leaving the country without a clear successor. The result? Twenty years of Civil War. This is how this well written well researched book begins. It then takes us through 250 years of Plntagenet rule. The good, not too much of that, the bad, alot of that, and the ugly. So glad I did not live in the Middle ages. I knew quite a bit of this history going in, but I have always had a fascination with Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen twice, the mother of two Kings, and the women that led her sons in a revolt against her husband. Of course she was imprisoned in various castles for many years, but eventually she once again became a politcal force. She lives into her seventies. He spent the rest of the day and also the whole of the following night in bitterness of soul, given over to prayer and sleeplessness, and continuing his fast for three days...With this extraordinary show of public penance Henry had won the most important propaganda battle of the war. A novelistic historical account of the bloodline that ‘stamped their mark forever on the English imagination’ . . . Perhaps Jones’ regular column in the London Standard has given him a different slant on history; however he manages, it’s certainly to our benefit. . . . For enjoyable historical narratives, this book is a real winner.” John’s son Henry III becomes king of England at age 9. His main contribution to history is that he renounces his claims to empire and becomes a peer of the King of France. Henry II is rolling around in his crypt.

Spot-on description of Henry III. These occasional sentences from author Dan Jones made this book a lively read, although given the subject matter, any re-telling of the illustrious Plantagenet family would probably not be on the boring side. The Plantagenets: The Kings and Queens Who Made England is divided into seven sections, termed by Jones as "ages". These sections successively deal with periods in the history of the Plantagenet dynasty's rule over England. [5] Reception [ edit ] The focus is very much on the politics and the personalities of power. When his kings are good they are very, very good and when they are bad they…have red hot pokers thrust into their bowels. Actually, the supposed gruesome death of Edward II is one of the myths that the author hits on the head with a hammer that might very well have been borrowed from Edward I, hitherto busy hammering the Scots.