History, Etc

This summer the New York Times sent me a book to review. Profits, Prophets, Coaches And Kings is the latest work by Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian/scientist/anthropologist best known for his 1997 work, Guns, Germs And Steel. It was an interesting assignment. I cannot say I loved the book - you can read my review if you want to know why. But it certainly got me thinking.

This weekend I was standing outside a pub trying to watch the eclipse using the barely spread fingers of my right hand as a solar light diffuser when a guy I used to know clapped me on the shoulder and shouted DAN JONES! It was a long time since I’d seen this fellow and I was thrilled to meet him again. We had been on good terms when he worked behind the bar of a pub I frequented before and (somewhat) during Covid.

This November I’ll be on book tour in the US. If you’d like to spend three days of that hanging out with me in New York, visiting some of the greatest medieval galleries in the world, coming to an invite-only book launch event and having a LOT of fun, then guess what? You can. The dates are Nov 15th to Nov 18th. All details are here. I’d love to see you there.

One sunny Friday afternoon, twenty-some years ago, I got an email that asked me to make a decision. In hindsight, it feels like a pivotal life moment. I was working shifts on a newspaper by day. By night I was trying to write the outline for my first history book, which was going to be about the Peasants’ Revolt. It was tough going. I couldn’t get the outline right, and I had planned to take the weekend to leave London, hole up in the countryside with no distractions and finish it.

In the spring of 878AD Alfred, king of the West Saxons, led a little band of men to one of the most magnificent victories of his age. For many years, Danish Vikings had been raiding deep into the kingdoms of England, terrorising the people on land and at sea. In 878, however, Alfred made a stand, and at the battle of Edington (today in Wiltshire), he stopped a band of Viking leaders under a warlord named Guthrum in their tracks.

The sun is shining in the UK right now. So we went and made some historical hats. You can buy them. We have: RICHARD III ANNE BOLEYN HENRY V I’m calling this collection Legends 1.0, and if you all enjoy them, there will be more legends to follow. There are 100 of each design available, and when they’re gone… they’re gone! Enjoy! Dan x PS who else would you like to see on (or in) History, Etc merch? Let me know below…

I was in Berlin this week to watch a rock show. But you can’t (or shouldn’t) go to Berlin without diving into the art galleries and museums. This is a piece about what I saw at the Bode-Museum, which for my money has one of the best medieval collections in the world. But it’s also a reflection on some of the things I learned from writing historical fiction. That’s timely, because Lion Hearts, the third instalment of my Essex Dogs, comes out in UK paperback next week. You can pick it up here.

Brilliant history books deserve to be beautiful. That’s the idea behind Millennia Books, a publishing company started by the team who created The Broken Binding, which is dedicated to making stunning special editions of history books, available for delivery all over the world. Millennia Books recently published a fine special edition of The Plantagenets.

This autumn I’ll be on the road - a lot. Which is exciting! The UK dates for CASTLES are in September and October. Still to be announced are North American dates - which will be in November. Those are coming soon. The easiest way to book tickets is via this link. ****In the meantime, you can still bid in the charity auction to go out for lunch. I’m buying and you can bring along two friends. The auction page is here.**** As usual, you can enjoy a talk, a signing, the chance to take photos, etc etc.

History, Etc: The First Draft Extra content delivered each week to the History, Etc Substack community. With Q&As, interviews and shout-outs from Dan. Extra content delivered each week to the History, Etc Substack community. With Q&As, interviews and shout-outs from Dan.