War of the Roses-Books?

Cafe Society
1

I was wondering if somebody could recommend a good book on the Mideveal War of the Roses?

Thanks in advance.

2

Are you looking for something fictionalized?

Thomas Costain and Sharon Kay Penman have written several very readable and pretty accurate novels about the Plantagenets.

Good question though – if someone knows about good non-fiction relating to those times, I’d be glad to know about it too. Pretty interesting.

I don’t think Richard killed the princes. Do you?

3

For non fiction, Alison Weir’s * The War of the Roses * is pretty good. (Although it ends with Edward IV and doesn’t get into the whole Richard III thing if that’s what you’re interested in.)

4

I have a copy of The Wars of the Roses Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century by Desmond Seward.

It’s not a typical history, in that he describes the political situation leading to the wars through biographical sketches of a few of the main players and a typical country squire of the period.

It’s an interesting approach, and I found it very helpful.

5

AuntiePam: No, I think Henry VII had them executed.

6

For a military history you might try The War of the Roses:* Military Activity and English Society, 1452-97* by Anthony Goodman ( 1981, 1990 Dorset Press ).

  • Tamerlane
7

And if you’re interested in that, read Weir’s The Princes in the Tower.

8

Peyote Coyote, me too.

My dream CSI episode would be solving that mystery.

9

I’d rank the suspects for the murder of the princes, in order:

Buckingham
Richard
Henry VII

But you might want to check out Desmond Seward’s “The Wars of the Roses”

10

I’ve been pretty certain Richard was innocent ever since I read Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time. Partially because I really liked her approach–who was where, when, and what did they do? Partially because I agreed with her that Richard was a very sensible man; he didn’t need the princes to be dead to secure his claim on the throne. And if he had thought he needed them dead, he’d have made sure people knew they were dead since there’d be no point killing them otherwise. I’ve read a number of books about the mystery (pro- and anti-Richard) since then (I’ve got The Mystery of the Princes around here somewhere), but I’ve yet to find one that (a) was able to convince me he’d done it or had it done, and (b) stated the case as succinctly and logically as she did.

That aside, I don’t have any real idea who did kill them, or when. I’d go for Henry VII on general principles, but there are good arguments for it being Buckingham.