Dan Jones Turned to Fiction After Dinner With George R.R. Martin

“You’ve got to know when you’re onto a good thing,” says the prolific historian, British TV personality and author of “Wolves of Winter,” the second novel in his Hundred Years’ War trilogy.

Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Lessons on Leadership From a Barbarian King

In “Theoderic the Great,” the historian Hans-Ulrich Wiemer dissects the rule of the Goth king who nurtured Roman culture and impressed Machiavelli.

Jamie Kreiner | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Think Screens Stole Our Attention? Medieval Monks Were Distracted Too.

In “The Wandering Mind,” the historian Jamie Kreiner shows that the struggle to focus is not just a digital-age blight but afflicted even those who spent their lives in seclusion and prayer.

BY JENNIFER SZALAI | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Chaucer the Rapist? Newly Discovered Documents Suggest Not.

That the author of “The Canterbury Tales” had been accused of rape was long a staple of Chaucer studies. But scholars now suggest it was based on a misreading of court papers from 1380.

BY JENNIFER SCHUESSLER | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Scholars Cringe at the Term ‘Dark Ages.’ Dan Jones Explains Why.

BY KEVIN STROUD | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Sharon Kay Penman, Whose Novels Plumbed Britain’s Past, Dies at 75

BY CLAY RISEN via NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Three New Books on the Predigital Technologies That Shaped Our World

BY MICHAEL STREVENS via NYTimes Books | Disclosure