For a history book, this is probably as good as it gets. I think I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d listened straight through, rather than putting it aside for weeks or months at a time before finally getting back to it. I noticed that I got a lot more wrapped up in the story(s) the longer I listened at a stretch, but upon first listening after a long period of absence, I could never remember, who is this now? Which king? Which era? What were they known for again?
I think the other way I’d have gotten more out of it is if I’d already had a firmer foundation of British history going in — then I think I’d have had an easier time keeping everybody straight.
There was a LOT of violence. I mean. it’s history, so that’s not really Dan Jones’s fault. People did what they did, but man, talk about cruel and unusual! I could definitely have done without knowing all the atrocious ways various political rivals murdered each other back in the middle ages. Humans were barely better than animals back then. That’s probably still the case, we’ve just created more safeguards to prevent us from acting quite so poorly. Anytime I think the world is going to hell in a handbasket now, though, all I have to do is study the middle ages. Then I realize, nope, could be a lot worse…
My rating: ****
Language: none that I recall
Sexual content: nothing salacious though of course, it’s history, so it was there
Violence: MASSIVE
Political content: historical only
