The Plantagenets made England. Many of the institutions that we regard as characteristically English, even British — the Houses of Parliament, the Inns of Court, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and justices of the peace — were created under their rule.
Yet Dan Jones’s excellent book is no mere catalogue of institution-building. Its strength comes from his energy and his utter disregard for some of the more “trendy” developments of modern history writing. In this colourful and imaginative work there are no references to swineherds or other members of a long forgotten proletariat. The Plantagenets is about a family with diverse, often quite bizarre members. It is unapologetically about powerful people, their foibles, their passions and their weaknesses...
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