Lancaster and York. For much of the fifteenth century, these two families were locked in battle for control of the English throne. Kings were murdered and deposed. Armies marched on London. Old noble names were ruined while rising dynasties seized power and lands. The war between the royal houses of Lancaster and York, the most complex in English history, profoundly altered the course of the monarchy. Alison Weir, one of the foremost authorities on British history, brings brilliantly to life both the war itself and the larger-tha-life figures who fought it on the great stage of England. The Wars of the Roses is history at its very best—swift and compelling, rich in character, pageantry, and drama, and vivid in its re-creation of an astonishing period of history.
Lancaster and York. For much of the fifteenth century, these two families were locked in a battle for control of the English throne, a battle that altered the course of the monarchy forever. In
The Wars of the Roses, Alison Weir brings to life the both the war itself and the historic figures who battled across the great stage of England.
It is a story that begins and ends with murder. In 1399, Richard II was deposed by Henry of Bolingbroke (Henry IV). A year later, he was dead. From there, Weir follows the trajectory of the burgeoning tensions between Lancaster and York, centering her narrative upon leading figures such as Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, Richard of York, Edward IV, and the Earl of Warwick; her bloody retelling culminates in 1471 on the battlefield of Bosworth, where Henry VI defeated Richard III and ended the decades long conflict.
The Wars of the Roses is history at its very best. Swift and compelling, rich in character and pageantry, Weir skillfully sorts through the tangled family trees of England, bringing one of the most complex and lengthy battles of English history to life in all its blood and glory.
"[A] spellbinding chronicle." --
Publishers Weekly (starred)
"Powerful and elegant....A complicated story brilliantly told." --
Kirkus Reviews"[A] perfectly focused and beautifully unfolded account." --
Booklist (starred)
"Stimulating...A well-written, entertaining narrative." --
Library Journal
