Chiselbury publishes ‘The Early Plantagenets’

Chiselbury Publishing is pleased to announce the publication of The Casual Historian presents The Early Plantagenets by Alan McLean.

How much trouble can one dysfunctional family possibly cause? 

Quite a lot it turns out, especially when they are the resident Royal Family for all of England and half of France. It’s time for you to meet The Early Plantagenets. 

The Plantagenets remain the longest serving dynasty of any to have ever sat upon the English throne. Their reign spanned three centuries and was defined by blood, betrayal, and on occasion, periods of great prosperity. Though The Plantagenets may wear the weighty crown of longest tenure within England, it is highly unlikely the earlier generations of the family identified as English.

The Early Plantagenets’ focus was largely fixated on Western France, for this was both their homeland and where they drew the majority of their revenues from, England was a nice bolt-on. In opposition to the Plantagenets, were the Capetian family who ruled Eastern France. In the twelfth century, when we will join our story, The Plantagenets eclipse their rivals across almost every conceivable metric; land mass, wealth, annual income, sons, you name it.  

The Early Plantagenets  charts a fascinating time in our history from mid-way through the reign of Henry II, through the over-hyped Richard the Lionheart, to the end of the sad time of King John. The latter was incidentally the last time that the churches of England were closed until last year and the onset of COVID, and both happened on 23rdMarch, only 812 years apart.

Commenting on the announcement, Stuart Leasor, Chiselbury’s publisher, said, “We are delighted to have published The Early Plantagenets. It is particularly a book for those interested in history who might be frightened off worthy academic, some might say, rather turgid tomes. This new style of history book features some characters you’ve heard of before and some strangers that will no doubt become friends. It is a book to devour and savour.”

Alan McLean added, “'What qualifies you to write about your chosen topic?' seems to be an asterisked question on the submission form for many major publishing houses. To answer this quickly now, nothing, absolutely nothing qualifies me to write about this period - or in fact any period of History. You could even say the opposite is true. I got a "D" in my History A Level and have been known to get my Henrys the wrong way round and my Edwards in a muddle, but do you know what? That's fine. History doesn't have to be academic, it doesn't need to be tiny-print pages framed by endless footnotes. It's all very impressive we know the name of every minor Lord and Baron that attended some meeting or other, but do we really need to list them all? Does it help the reader to understand the tale, does it add anything to the story?

“And that is where History is for me, the clue is in the second part of the word, "story". For History is a story like no other, it features real people with real and conflicting motivations. These characters strut about on stage, blown left and right absurdly by the winds of chance. Originally, I set out to write a piece of fiction inspired by twelfth century Europe, I quickly thought why bother? The real (hi)story is far stranger, gripping and adrenaline fuelled than anything I could ever have dreamed up.” 

The Casual Historian presents The Early Plantagenets is available for purchase here. ISBNs are 978-1-908291-75-2 (paperback), 978-1-908291-77-6 (hardback) and 978-1-908291-76-9 (Kindle). If you would like a review copy please email info@chiselbury.co.uk.

Its cover illustration is by cartoonist Jeremy Leasor.

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