Our Inspirational People - Dan Jones

There are so many different people that have either helped us or given up the information that we have needed to be able to say we know something substantial in our specialist fields. So we thought we might share one of our inspirational people every now and then, just so you can get to know us a bit more and to know the people that have helped us along the way. Andrea is going to kick it all off with one of her favorite historians.

Dan Jones 

On a wet and cold November evening in 2019 in Winchester I had the pleasure of meeting Dan at the BBC History Weekend. Like me Dan has many tattoos, yet he has way more, so you can imagine that we didn't really get to talk much history. There was also that fact of my hand bag, which was skull shaped so again not much history going on. But it was still so good to meet a historian that I have followed for so long.

Dan was born in 1981 in Reading, he would go on to attend Cambridge where he would gain a degree in history in 2002. He has been writing books since 2009 and since 2014 on our TV screens, either on his own or with fellow historian Suzannah Lipscomb. He has become known as an expert on medieval history and also on the Templers and Crusaders. But he also has a knowledge of a few other historical times especially the ones I am interested in. 

He has taught me so much that I didn't know and also given me new information about stuff that I thought I already knew so much about. His show about the Roman Roads, made me want to revisit Roman rule in Britain. I also loved the show he did in the Great Fire of London, that gave me more insight and new evidence to something we think we know so much about. For an easy to watch yet factual show I would recommend Secrets of Great British Castles. 

I honestlsy can't remember how or when I first discovered Dan, but I know that since that moment I haven't looked back. Since that point I have got as many of his books as I can and then preorder the new ones. I will watch and even rewatch any TV show that he has played a part in. Every Friday I sit and watch his Facebook lives, which is an hour of book give always, story time and just waffle. For Valentines my partner Jordan got me a subscription to his all new newsletter and he got me my very own personalized video from him, in which he remembered me and of course my skull hand bag.

During that message he gave me some advice on how to deal with the struggles and stress that I was having with my history degree, he told me "one foot in front of the other and one word at a time" which I hope will really help me when I need it. Since being in all these lock downs and isolations Dan has been the only historian I can say that I've heard the most from, he's Facebook lives have increased as he only used to do them on the odd occasion but are now every week. These have helped break up the lockdowns and brought a bit of fun learning to the end of my weeks, but I just seem to notice him everywhere lately. 

I don't know what it is about Dan, but whenever I watch him or listen to him he doesn't feel like your normal boring historian. I could listen to him for hours and not get bored as he has this way of explaining things that doesn't make your brain go fussy and your eyes glaze over, yet you still feel as though you've learnt something. He is a real down to earth person who I feel is trying to break the mold on traditional historians, not just by the way that he goes about history but also the way that he looks. It's this that makes me feel good about doing the same thing and trying to break the traditions of what  historians seem to look like. He is also a person that isn't afraid to say what is on his mind and from watching his lives every week he is easily distracted which is funny to watch. 

I hope to meet Dan again at some point and would like to have a proper chat with him especially this time about history. A dream of mine would be to have the chance to work with him on something that we both understand, but I need to get there first.