"Dan Jones concludes the history of the medieval English monarchy he began in 'The Plantagenets' with this, the story of theviolent 15th century. Nothing better illustrates the hazards of hereditary monarchy. When the warrior hero Henry V was succeeded by an infant son who grew up a saintly incompetent and the puppet of noble factions, the nation gradually drifted into chaos followed by a particularly vicious and bloody civil war. Edward IV, the eventual Yorkist victor, was efficient and charismatic and the wars should have been over, but he died prematurely at 41 and had this younger brother Richard.... (Theauthor's view of Richard III, incidentally, is a far truer one than those offered by either Shakespeare or the various Richard III societies). If you want a more accurate and nuanced account of this period than you'll find in the novels of Philippa Gregory—and really, you should—then this book is a good place to start."
Publisher Viking Adult
Publication Date 2014-10-14
Section New Hardcover - Nonfiction / European History
Format Hardcover
ISBN 9780670026678
The author of the New York Times bestseller The Plantagenets chronicles the next chapter in British history—the historical backdrop for Game of Thrones
The crown of England changed hands five times over the course of the fifteenth century, as two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fought to the death for the right to rule. In this riveting follow-up to The Plantagenets, celebrated historian Dan Jones describes how the longest-reigning British royal family tore itself apart until it was finally replaced by the Tudors.
Some of the greatest heroes and villains of history were thrown together in these turbulent times, from Joan of Arc to Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt marked the high point of the medieval monarchy, and Richard III, who murdered his own nephews in a desperate bid to secure his stolen crown. This was a period when headstrong queens and consorts seized power and bent men to their will. With vivid descriptions of the battles of Towton and Bosworth, where the last Plantagenet king was slain, this dramatic narrative history revels in bedlam and intrigue. It also offers a long-overdue corrective to Tudor propaganda, dismantling their self-serving account of what they called the Wars of the Roses.
