Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones
First line: In the sixteenth century the English historian John Foxe looked over his shoulder at the great sweep of the near, and distant, past.
Summary: Dan Jones’ newest history of the medieval ages covers the period from the end of the Roman empire to the rise of Protestantism. He covers major players, battles and nations giving his readers a look into a world that was constantly changing.
My Thoughts: Dan Jones is a wonderful historian. He covers many of the people and time periods that I am interested in. He makes his topics easy to read and learn from. This one was no different. I know some about the Middle Ages from other readings of authors like Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory but this gave me much more of an insight into other parts of the world than just England.
He brought in major players like Genghis Khan, who I knew very little about. Learning about this warlord’s life before and his rise to power was all new to me. I never really think about how Asia and Europe had lots of interactions during this time due to the crusades and religion.
And during the chapter on the crusades they even mentioned something I had never heard about but was related to my family history. There was a Wendish Crusade where powers in Germany against a Slavic group called the Wends. My Pohlenz family were part of the Wendish community in Germany and lived in heavily populated Wendish towns in Nebraska after emigrating. I had never heard of this crusade against them but I instantly had to read more about this little known piece of history.
Jones does a great job of laying out his storyline. He goes chronologically but breaks each time into important factors like crusaders, knights, Arabs, Mongols, merchants and more. It gave me a feeling that the time was definitely broken into different parts and governed by these persons for their span of time but as the world changed so did the leaders of the time.
FYI: A concise but wide spread look at a time that covers hundreds of years. Great for people looking to learn more about the Middle Ages.
There is something about feeling the pages in my hands. However, sometimes I find I like the convenience of a digital copy. I can take it with me where ever I am using an app on my phone. How cool is that? Plus, we have such a great selection of books available on our Sunflower eLibrary. The app used to be called Overdrive but is slowly migrating over to Libby by Overdrive. It is a fantastic upgrade. Definitely check it out if you enjoy ebooks and audio books.
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I had heard very little about Eleanor before picking up these books. As I read I learned so much about her and life in the 12th century. Her family life was very erratic and messy. I find it hard to believe how dysfunctional her family was. Her sons were constantly fighting with one another and their father. She had to be the peace keeper but also an instigator once in a while. But I found her fascinating! I think after Anne Boleyn, Eleanor is my favorite female historical figure. She did so much, lived a long life and is still remembered nearly 900 years later.