Writing a New History of the Middle Ages: Interview with Dan Jones on Powers and Thrones
Tides of History
Wondery / Patrick Wyman
4.8 • 6.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2021
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Friend of the Show, TV presenter, author extraordinaire, and historian Dan Jones returns to Tides to discuss his new book, Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages. It’s a wonderful book and a tremendous achievement, written with both a consummate grasp of the huge scope of medieval history and a cinematic style of storytelling that keeps the reader engaged. How can we say something new about a very old period, and do it in entertaining fashion? That’s the key question for one of the most accomplished popular historians working today.
Patrick's book is now available! Get The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here.
Listen to new episodes 1 week early, to exclusive seasons 1 and 2, and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/tidesofhistory.
Indeed- Get started with a $75 credit to upgrade your job post indeed.com/tides!
Theragun- Try Theragun for 30 Days starting at only $199 at therabody.com/tides!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi everybody, from Wondery, welcome to another episode of Tides of History. |
| 0:14.1 | I'm Patrick Weimann, thanks for joining me. |
| 0:16.2 | Writing a book is pretty hard, trust me, I know. |
| 0:19.0 | You know it's harder, writing a book that's actually good. |
| 0:22.4 | What's even harder than that is writing a whole series of really good books on increasingly |
| 0:27.0 | large and difficult topics while somehow getting better and better at writing the books. |
| 0:31.9 | Today's guest has been producing outstanding popular histories of the Middle Ages from |
| 0:35.8 | more than a decade, on topics ranging from the Plantagenet Kings of England to the Wars |
| 0:40.3 | of the Roses to the Templars to the Crusades. |
| 0:43.4 | Dan Jones has done this while also presenting and producing a whole bunch of documentary |
| 0:47.0 | series, including Secrets of Great British Castles, which you can and should watch on Netflix |
| 0:51.5 | right now. |
| 0:52.8 | His newest book, Powers and Thrones, A New History of the Middle Ages tackles the period |
| 0:56.9 | as a whole. |
| 0:58.1 | It is a wonderful read, it's full of life and character while still covering more than |
| 1:02.3 | a thousand years of history and incorporating the very latest scholarship. |
| 1:06.6 | I highly recommend it and I could not possibly be more stoked to chat with the author. |
| 1:10.9 | Dan Jones, thank you once again for joining me on Tides of History. |
| 1:14.0 | It's such a pleasure to talk to you and that you've made me feel old, like, I tell |
| 1:20.4 | you why because that would serve me well as in the bittery, but you just said, I'd |
| 1:23.6 | be happy at that level of achievement. |
| 1:26.2 | And, you know, the fact that you're as young as you are makes me feel slightly ill like |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery / Patrick Wyman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery / Patrick Wyman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.