Dan Jones, 43, is an author and best-selling historian. His books, which include The Plantagenets and The Templars, have sold more than a million copies worldwide. He also writes and presents TV history documentaries such as the popular Secrets of Great British Castles. He lives in Staines, Surrey, with his wife, Jo, and their three children.
How did your upbringing influence your attitude to money?
My parents were from South Wales, though we eventually settled near Bicester.
Dad liked to spend and Mum was and still is very organised and diligent with money. It made for quite a good partnership. My mother would look after us during the week while my dad worked in car dealerships and then she would work all weekend in Marks & Spencer.
Did your parents ever talk to you about money?
Yes, my younger sister and I were encouraged to save. We had Cheltenham & Gloucester savings accounts – whenever we were given money as a present, we would put it in there.
From time to time, we’d take our savings books out and see how much we’d accrued. It became a thing that money was to be looked after.
What was your first paid job?
In the summer when I was about 13, I worked on a nearby farm driving the tractor and stacking bales. For the two weeks up to Christmas I worked in a turkey slaughterhouse. I started off plucking the feathers, then because I was literate, I moved up to weighing the turkeys and writing down the weight in a notebook. I was paid about £3.00 an hour. I collected my pay on Christmas Eve; sometimes it was almost £100. What I remember most was the great pride I felt in having earned it.
What led to you making a career writing about medieval English history?
I studied medieval history at Cambridge and I had a brilliant mentor in David Starkey. He taught me how to write and stressed the overarching importance of written style.
I wanted to do a PhD but couldn’t afford to. At the suggestion of a friend, I adapted my PhD into my first book proposal, Summer of Blood: The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. My agent brilliantly sold it to Harper Collins. I had a £25,000 first payment against an advance of £75,000 for a two-book deal.
Have you ever had trouble paying your bills?
Yes. I was really broke while writing my second book. My £25,000 first instalment was more money than I had ever seen in my life, so of course I frittered it away: travelling, partying and having a really good time.
When I came to write the second book in 2010, I had about £200 left in my bank account. I couldn’t pay the rent and my wife and I were living in a horrible, mouse-infested flat with a new baby.
I thought, “OK. I need a job that’s more stable than this.” So I downloaded the application forms for law school. Then I got the offer to write a regular newspaper sports column. I thought, “Wow I’ve been saved. At least I can now finish the book.”
Which of your 15 books had the biggest impact on your career?
My second book: Plantagenets. I was about to give it all up, then it came out and was a UK bestseller.
An American publisher bought the US rights and gave me $100,000 (£76,400) for it and as an advance to write another book, The Wars of Roses. It was paid in instalments over three years but it meant we could now rent a house and get some childcare. We could both work full-time when our second child came along.
Two or three years later, my agent called me. She said, “I have $220,000 for you.” Plantagenets had earned out its American deal and Wars of the Roses had also sold well. It was life-changing. I thought: “Wow. That’s the deposit for a house of our own.”
Which pays more TV or books?
Books. But when I started, TV deals were pretty good, even though it was buy-outs with a per-episode fee. I write the book, then hopefully get royalties from that as well as from international sales and translation rights. Eventually, it should become a semi-annual income.
How much has being a hip, tattooed historian helped your career?
I write quite traditional, serious history: battles, crusades, plunder. And at first, I considered buying a tweed jacket and looking similar to David Starkey. Then I thought, “I don’t care: I’ve always looked like someone who has recently been made homeless.” And of course, it went down well – though I am very serious about the work.
Pension or property?
A bit of both. The books will be my pension as they pay royalties; and property in that we have bought a family house. It gives a sense of security and has a big garden for the kids, which I love.
But we spend four times as much on school fees for the three kids as we do on the mortgage. It’s insane, but I consider it an investment.
What has been your best money decision?
The best was buying the house. It was falling down and we have rebuilt it from the ground up. I took out a five-year, fixed-rate mortgage when rates were at 0.7pc in 2021, just before they started to rise.
And your worst decision?
In about 2004, I was sharing a three-bed flat in Vauxhall and I rue not lumping my first advance into property. A one-bed flat would now be worth £1m and I wouldn’t have a mortgage. It was about another eight years before I got that American windfall for Plantagenets and I could get on the property ladder.
How do you like to splash out?
I like to travel and fly business class – though I know it’s really a waste of money. I also like to spend a month in Crete in the summer. I’m planning to write a book about Crete and the Minotaur. I’ve been learning Greek for five years.
Does money make you happy?
No, but not having money would make me unhappy.
Henry V by Dan Jones was published by Head of Zeus on September 12.
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