Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones

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Powers and Thrones A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones

Author: Dan Jones

“An audacious, entertaining page-turner. Dan Jones covers a thousand years of history with elegance and panache.”–Dan Carlin, host of Hardcore History The New York Times bestselling author returns with an epic history of the medieval world–a rich and complicated reappraisal of an era whose legacy and lessons we are still living with today.

When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era–and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation.

In a gripping narrative bursting with big names–from St Augustine and Attila the Hun to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine–Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes readers on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West, and culminates in the first European voyages to the Americas.

The medieval world was forged by the big forces that still occupy us today: climate change, pandemic disease, mass migration, and technological revolutions. This was the time when the great European nationalities were formed; when the basic Western systems of law and governance were codified; when the Christian Churches matured as both powerful institutions and the regulators of Western public morality; and when art, architecture, philosophical inquiry and scientific invention went through periods of massive, revolutionary change.

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. The West was rebuilt on the ruins of an empire and emerged from a state of crisis and collapse to dominate the region and the world.

[highlight color=”green”]Goodreads users review :[/highlight]

Very readable, entertaining with irony, humor and a panoramic view of the period from the 400’s to the 1500’s. Highly recommended Liviu                                                                                                       rated it: 5.0 from 5.0

A genuine tour de force. Dan Jones has performed quite a feat with this book. He makes a thousand years of history both very informative and highly entertaining. I highly recommend it to every fan of the stories of kings and queens, popes and peasants, knights and monks, marauders and miracle-makers, castles and cathedrals, revolutionaries and reactionaries. Joe                                                                                                        rated it: 5.0 from 5.0

Wow- just, wow. What an achievement. To cram a thousand years of history into a book this size, while retaining all the important details and not coming across as a boring academic lecture, is an achievement. Five stars easily earned- an achievement Dan Jones wins with every book of his that I read. For anyone with a passing interest in history, you will enjoy this book. Mark Gannon                                                                                          rated it: 5.0 from 5.0