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Powers and Thrones

A New History of the Middle Ages

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Powers and Thrones

Written 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
Great Britain World Imperialism Ancient History England Crusade

What listeners say about Powers and Thrones

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Excellent update to conventional Middle Adge Hist

Damn, those Renaissance popes were something else corrupt. had no idea that the Sistene Chapel was funded by indulgences (basically a way to pay off your sin and the sin of dead family members).

This book is great and tightly winds up the legacy of the Middle Ages.

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Great overview of the Middle Ages.

This was a great history of the Middle Ages. For the most part, it had a perfect balance of detail and colour. It never got too lost in the details that a casual fan of history would find boring, but it also felt well researched and thorough.

My interest waned a bit when it stopped the chronological history and discussed some bigger concepts (eg monasticism, scholarship), beginning around 1000 AD, but it regained my interest around the Renaissance.

There were a few topics that I wished were covered in more detail (the conquest of Britain in 1066, the Hundred Years’ War).

But, as a whole, it was a great history of the Middle Ages. And well narrated by the author himself!

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narrator

Dan Jones is always great
good listen
interesting book and wonderful reader
would heartily reccomend

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4.5 Stars

Powers and Thrones covers a thousand years of history in Dan Jones trademark eloquent and entertaining style. He deftly picks out not only the nobles and religious figures who influenced the course of medieval history from Hadrian's Wall to the Steppes of Asia; Jones brings to life the rebels and traders of the ordinary folks. I did have to knock off half a star because as brilliant and engrossing as this was, Jones speaks very very quietly. Well worth a listen,just not on a noisy bus.

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excellent

Dan Jones is now my favorite Author and Narrator. I can't wait to listen to the rest of his work!

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Excellent history

Excellent. Great coverage of many historical interwoven events. Highly recommended. We’ll read too. I’ll add another few words to get to fifteen.

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Fantastic

Dan Jones is my absolute favourite, I have read all of his work, and this one is just as incredible as the others. absolute perfection, would 100% recommend.

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Learned many things

Overall, this was a very good listen. It's a long one! And some sections were very engaging, more so than others... it is a long haul of history to get through. I did learn many things and it is an interesting book to have on while driving or working.

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Good, general history of middle ages.

I havent read much on the middle ages but this was a very good general history of the middles ages to start exploring more across this passage of time and how all the moves during this time period affected the subsequent centuries leading to present day.

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engaging history of the middle ages

This is a really good book. As the ratings show it is not an old boring history, but well paced and engaging. I thought one small part about gothic architecture was a bit dull for me, but only that one part. Covering 1000 years of history means there is a huge amount of info here, but even retaining a bit is beneficial. I definitely recommend this book to annoying interested in history.

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