Dan Jones

Dan Jones is a journalist and historian. He has worked on numerous TV programmes, including for BBC Four and Channel 5. His recent books include The Hollow Crown: the Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors (Faber, 2014) and The Plantagenets (William Collins, 2013), which became a New York Times bestseller. His latest book looks at Crusaders and it is this topic he is exploring in his lecture. As a prolific writer, he has also contributed numerous articles to the BBC History Magazine and History Today.

Crusaders: An Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands

When Christian armies marched on Jerusalem in 1099, they began the most notorious period of conflict in medieval history: the crusades. In Crusaders, Dan Jones delves into that time to introduce a vivid cast of characters both familiar and barely known – from Richard the Lionheart, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Saladin, to Margaret of Beverley, who defended Jerusalem with a saucepan on her head, and Enrico Dandolo, the blind doge of Venice, who helped burn and loot Constantinople. This is an epic and deeply human history of an enthralling age.