The Wars of the Roses

By Alison Weir

Book Overview

Lancaster and York. For much of the fifteenth century, these two families were locked in battle for control of the British monarchy. 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 House of Lancaster and York, the longest and most complex in British history, profoundly altered the course of the monarchy. In The Wars of the Roses, Alison Weir reconstructs this conflict with the same dramatic flair and impeccable research that she brought to her highly praised The Princes in the Tower. The first battle erupted in 1455, but the roots of the conflict reached back to the dawn of the fifteenth century, when the corrupt, hedonistic Richard II was sadistically murdered, and Henry IV, the first Lancastrian king, seized England's throne. Both Henry IV and his son, the cold warrior Henry V, ruled England ably, if not always wisely--but Henry VI proved a disaster, both for his dynasty and his kingdom. Only nine months old when his father's sudden death made him king, Henry VI became a tormented and pathetic figure, weak, sexually inept, and prey to fits of insanity. The factional fighting that plagued his reign escalated into bloody war when Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, laid claim to the throne that was rightfully his--and backed up his claim with armed might. Alison Weir brings brilliantly to life both the war itself and the historic figures who fought it on the great stage of England. Here are the queens who changed history through their actions--the chic, unconventional Katherine of Valois, Henry V's queen; the ruthless, social-climbing Elizabeth Wydville; and, most crucially, Margaret of Anjou, a far tougher and more powerful character than her husband,, Henry VI, and a central figure in the Wars of the Roses. Here, too, are the nobles who carried the conflict down through the generations--the Beauforts, the bastard descendants of John of Gaunt, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known to his contemporaries as "the Kingmaker"; and the Yorkist King, Edward IV, a ruthless charmer who pledged his life to cause the downfall of the House of Lancaster. 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, dangerous, and often grim period of history. Alison Weir, one of the foremost authorities on the British royal family, demonstrates here that she is also one of the most dazzling stylists writing history today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345391179
• ISBN13: 9780345391179
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 462 Pages
• Weight: 1.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.8" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The wars of the roses

I love the book thank you!

Read like a novel

Finished this in two days. The pacing was great and there was just enough character development. Sometimes I got bogged down in the substantial family tree but the charts in the back helped. Great experience.

Wonderful!

I enjoyed this book so much! I had an interest in the Wars of the Roses, and wanted to read a book about it, but didn't know which one to go with. I definitely made the right choice! Weir is an amazing writer!

Keep those geneology tables handy...

This is an excellent well organized book. Weir does an wonderful job with the subject of a complex family tree and lots of interfamily marriages. I don't know of many historians that could do this well. She covers the English history from Richard II to Edward IV. I recommend to all Medieval English history lovers.

Terrific writer, interesting subject - a great read

This is a wonderfully readable history, covering the finalconflict between cousins (the House of Lancaster and the House ofYork, and then the House of York and the House of Tudor) over the crown of England. As the author states in her introduction, the full story begins in 1400 begins with a murder and ends in 1471 with another murder. Weir writes a history of people who come alive on her pages. The characters history has given her are ambitious, incompetent, promiscuous, indolent, and lustful. The tale history has given her is one of these characters acting outside the law, each for his/her own purposes and, in so doing it is an early story of violent "politics of destruction" in the literal sense. This story changed forever the history of England.I often judge how good a book is by whether I am moved to read another one by the same author, or on the same subject. I am now reading Weir's book on Elizabeth. If you are interested in a well written history of a pivotal period in English history, I would highly recommend that you give The Wars of the Roses a try.

Very well written account of Lancaster vs. York

"The Wars of the Roses" is an altogether fascinating account of what may be, I suspect , a not so well understood era of English medieval history. Alison Weir tells the story of the wars between the Houses of Lancaster and York in 15th century England in a most compelling manner. She allows the reader to get to know such disparate characters as the weak and unstable usurper Lancastrian King Henry VI and his ambitious and ruthless queen, Margaret of Anjou; the Duke of York, who led the fight against the Lancasters, at first attempting to establish good government in England under Henry VI, and later, with an eye toward taking the English throne for himself; and York's son, Edward, conscientious and competent, who, after the Duke's death, picked up his father's fallen banner and deposed Henry VI, becoming King Edward IV, and ultimately ending the Wars of the Roses.Weir weaves personalities and a highly complex series of events into a well organized, easily understandable and highly entertaining narrative. I found "The Wars of the Roses" to be thoroughly enjoyable and very well written indeed.

An enjoyable read for history buffs!

The text is well written and easy to read. The author keeps the story moving despite quoting numerous historical sources. All the pieces in this interesting historical intrigue are brought together and tied in a tidy bow. The book covers the first half of the Wars, from the murder of Richard II to the accession of Edward IV. This is the author's "pre-quel" to "The princes in the Tower" an account of the second half of the Wars from Edward IV to Henry VII's victory at Bosworth