Dan Jones (writer)

Dan Jones
Dan Jones in 2012
Born	Daniel Gwynne Jones (1981-07-27) 27 July 1981 Reading, England
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Occupation	Historian and journalist
Known for	History

Daniel Jones (born 27 July 1981) is an English writer, historian, TV presenter and journalist. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge where he was taught by David Starkey.

Personal life

Jones was born in Reading, England, in 1981 to Welsh parents.^[1][2] He was educated at The Royal Latin School, a state grammar school in Buckingham, before attending Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, where he was taught by David Starkey.^[3] He got a First in History in 2002.^[4] He is an historian, a newspaper columnist, and a magazine editor. He lives in Staines-upon-Thames with his wife and two daughters.

Historian

Dan Jones' first history book was a popular narrative history of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381, titled Summer of Blood: The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, which was published in 2009.^[5] His second book, The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England, was published in 2012 in the United Kingdom and a year later in the United States,^[6] where it became a New York Times bestseller.^[7] It is a family portrait of the Plantagenet kings from Henry II to Richard II.

Jones' third book, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors, published in 2014, picks up where The Plantagenets leaves off and covers the period 1420–1541, from the death of Henry V to the arrival of the Tudors.^[8]

His fourth book is about Magna Carta and is titled Magna Carta: The Making and Legacy of the Great Charter, published in 2014.

Jones' fifth book, The Templars, The Rise and the Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors, was published in September 2017 about the Knights Templar.^[9]

TV presenter

In 2014, Jones' book The Plantagenets was adapted for television as a four-part series on Channel 5 (UK) entitled Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets.^[10]

Jones has also made a twelve-part series for Channel 5 (UK) entitled Secrets of Great British Castles.^[11]

In April 2016, he co-wrote and co-presented, with Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb, Henry VIII and His Six Wives^[12] which was shown on Channel 5 (UK).^[13]

In May 2017, he co-wrote and co-presented a three-part docu-drama, with Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb, Elizabeth I, which was shown on Channel 5 (UK).^[14]

For three consecutive evenings, in May and June 2017, Jones, with Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb and engineer Rob Bell, presented The Great Fire, for Channel 5 (UK), a series in which the three presenters walked the actual route the Great Fire of London fire took across the city.^[15][16][17]

In June 2018 he presented a three-part series, for Channel 5 (UK), Building Britain's Canals.

Journalist

Jones is a journalist. He is a columnist at the London Evening Standard, where he writes regularly about sport.^[18] He has written for The Times,^[19][20][21] the Sunday Times,^[22][23][24] The Telegraph,^{[25][26][27][28]} and for The Spectator,^[29] The Daily Beast and Newsweek,^[30] The Literary Review, The New Statesman,^[31] GQ, BBC History Magazine and History Today.

Family

Dan Jones is the great-nephew of British politician and journalist Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont.

Publications

• Magna Carta: The Making And Legacy Of The Great Charter, London, Head of Zeus, 2014, ISBN 978-1-781-85885-1.
• The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors, New York, Viking, 2014, ISBN 978-0-670-02667-8. (Known in the UK as The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors, London, 2014, ISBN 978-0-571-28807-6.)
• The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England, London, HarperPress, 2012, ISBN 978-0-00-721392-4 ^[32]
• Summer of Blood: The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, London, HarperPress, 2009, ISBN 978-0-00-721391-7.
• The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors, London, Head of Zeus, 2017, ISBN 9780525428305.

References