Intelligence Squared: An Evening with Dan Jones on War, Plague and Lionhearts (Part Two)

Date: October 19, 2025
Host: Intelligence Squared (Alice Loxton & Mia Sorrenti)
Guest: Dan Jones

Episode Overview

This live episode re-joins historian and novelist Dan Jones and host Alice Loxton for Part Two of a discussion about the research, process, and personal experiences behind Jones’s "Essex Dogs" trilogy, with a special focus on the final installment, "Lionhearts." The conversation, held at Smith Square Hall in London, delves into challenges of writing historical fiction, character creation, the role of AI in creativity, castles and their imaginative power, and audience Q&A with fans.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Challenges of Writing Historical Fiction

• Dramatizing History: Dan Jones reflects on the particular challenges of weaving real historical events, such as labor laws and Windsor Castle festivities, into compelling fiction.
  • "How do you go about dramatizing a law that's about, you know, sort of labor legislation? ...You’ve just got to create a scenario and then put your characters in. And if you’re sure of your characters...they'll find a way." — Dan Jones [02:09]
• Emotional Toll: Jones discusses the intensely stressful writing process for "Lionhearts," intentionally writing at breakneck speed to create a sense of lived urgency, which left him emotionally drained by the end.
  • "The biggest challenge, really...was that in a moment of desperate masochism, I decided to write this book as fast as I possibly could...nearly did myself some psychological damage writing this book." — Dan Jones [03:57]

Trilogy Structure and Future Projects

• Why a Trilogy? Jones wanted the Essex Dogs series to build into a larger publishing project, favoring an epic, sequential approach over an open-ended series.
  • "A trilogy, because...I wanted to build a franchise of a sort...I wanted this to be a bigger project than a one and done." — Dan Jones [06:54]
  • He contrasts trilogies with series like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, and hints the “door isn’t locked,” so more stories could be possible [07:41].
• Next Steps: Jones reveals he’s writing a non-fiction book about castles, pushing the frame wider than his TV series "Secrets of Great British Castles."

Character Creation & Inspirations

• Creating Romford: The complex fan-favorite character started as a “tag along” and developed unpredictable traits, such as substance abuse, borrowing from archetypes in Vietnam war films.
  • "In one word, I would describe his character as fiend...with this kind of innocence...you just desperately want to put your arm around him." — Dan Jones [13:37]
• Character Research: Jones draws visual inspiration from historical art books, letting faces "stare at him" until personalities emerge. Sometimes he borrows traits from friends, acquaintances, or even his local landlord.
• Real vs. Fictional Characters: Fictional characters allow more play, but real historical figures provide a framework with set parameters. Jones was influenced by James Ellroy’s "American Tabloid" for dealing with the real characters as "grotesques" rather than sanitized heroes.

Historical Battles: The Longbow & the French

• Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt: Jones offers a nuanced, battlefield-focused analysis of why the French repeatedly fell to the English longbow, highlighting generalship, army composition, and leadership failures.
  • "Crecy, the longbow is still sweeping everything before it...The French are outgeneralled by Edward III...Agincourt is cosplay Crecy." — Dan Jones [35:49]

AI and the Future of Creative Writing

• On AI’s Threat and Human Creativity: Jones expresses concern about the rapid improvement of AI in writing, especially in formulaic or "slop" writing, and critiques education for training humans to write like machines.
  • "We have been training human minds for too long to think like and replicate machine thought...we must put a premium on human creativity, human genius, human inspiration." — Dan Jones [17:53]
• The Value of Live Events: Both Jones and Loxton agree that as AI proliferates, live, in-person events and genuine human interaction become even more valuable.

The Interplay of Fact and Fiction

• Responsibility to History: Jones defends the novelist’s right to deviate from strict historical accuracy, critiquing Hilary Mantel’s view that fiction writers must be rigorously faithful to the historical record.
  • "It’s pretty clear you have more responsibility in terms of getting it right as a historian. The selling point of historian is 'this happened.' The selling point of novelist is 'eh.'" — Dan Jones [27:59]
  • "It’s not my responsibility as the creator, to create something that's specifically like a made up story and make it follow the rules of something that's specifically not a made up story..." — Dan Jones [29:20]

Cutting Room Floor: The Scenes That Didn't Make It

• Scenes Sacrificed: Jones laments losing characters or scenes he loved, such as the captain’s bridge scene, due to plotting constraints and admits sometimes breaking the “kill your darlings” rule.
  • "I broke that rule. But I loved that scene with the captain on the bridge." — Dan Jones [23:21]

Castles: Book and Imagination

• Castles Book: Jones’s next nonfiction work, "The Castle," will cover the evolution of castles from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age, blending architectural history with the role of castles in myth and imagination.
  • "It’s a book that’s about the buildings and the imaginative world around them...from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age." — Dan Jones [40:15]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Trilogy’s Ending:
  • "I have...left it unlocked. Or at least no, I’ve locked the door, but the key is not very well hidden. It's under a flower pot." — Dan Jones [07:41]
• On Historical Fiction Being 'The Cheat’s Way Out':
  • "That’s why historical fiction’s the cheat’s way out...you sort of like buy a starter kit." — Dan Jones [06:10]
• On Writing Under Pressure:
  • "In order to give them their feeling of being right on the edge emotionally...I just had to be under immense stress myself. Well, I did it. I didn't feel too good at the end of it, I must say." — Dan Jones [04:25]
• On the Human Element in Art:
  • "Let’s lean into it...as the limitless vistas of free...information spill out before us, all accessible by the smartphone in your pocket. The one thing that remains at a premium because of its scarcity is that human interaction." — Dan Jones [20:29]
• On the Responsibilities of Novelists vs. Historians:
  • "The selling point of historian is ‘this happened’. The selling point of novelist is ‘eh’." — Dan Jones [27:59]
• On Inspiration from Grotesques, Not Heroes:
  • "I’m more interested in the gargoyles, you know, the ugly grotesques, the monstrous versions..." — Dan Jones [33:58]

Audience Q&A Highlights (Timestamps Approximate)

• [09:56] Name Choices & Romford:
  • Dan explains the accidental and organic nature of naming Romford and shares how the character's complexity developed from contemporary war film influences.
• [14:01] Favorite Book in the Trilogy:
  • "It's like my kids...the one that's causing me least bother at any given moment." — Dan Jones
• [15:21] Favorite/Challenging Character:
  • Dan gravitates toward characters with "foul mouths," naming William de Bohun as a favorite.
• [16:03] On AI and the Creative Process:
  • Dan gives a philosophical reflection on the risks and opportunities of AI in art and writing.
• [22:34] Scenes Deleted:
  • The captain’s bridge scene, originally meant for book one, ended up as book two’s opener.
• [27:24] Greater Responsibility—Fiction or Nonfiction?:
  • Dan and Alice debate whether fiction’s reach or nonfiction’s accuracy has the greater burden of responsibility.
• [35:49] Why did the French Keep Losing to the Longbow?:
  • Dan explores tactical explanations and differences between key battles.
• [40:15] Castles Project:
  • Dan outlines his forthcoming book on castles as architectural and cultural phenomena.

Final Notes / Closing

• [44:25] The event closes with reflections on the success of the trilogy and fan appreciation for Dan Jones’s work.
• Book Announcement: Dan’s new book "The Castle" is scheduled for release in autumn 2026.

Engaging Takeaways

Dan Jones offers both granular insights into the creative juggling act of historical fiction and broader meditations on history, humanity, and the future of storytelling. He’s candid about the emotional and technical trials of writing, skeptical but not dismissive toward the rise of AI, and always passionate about blending rigorous research with vivid storytelling. He encourages aspiring writers to respect the line between history and fiction, keeps the door ajar for future adventures with his characters, and demonstrates that, sometimes, even the most epic tales must find their roots in personal trial, risky invention, and a dash of vulnerability.

For More

• Listen to Part One of this conversation for the genesis of the Essex Dogs trilogy and deeper analysis.
• Watch for Dan Jones’s upcoming book "The Castle" (autumn 2026).
• Explore live events at Intelligence Squared for firsthand engagement with authors and thinkers.