A review by lisa_setepenre
War for the Throne: The Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 by John Barratt

3.0

War for the Throne explores the 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury, fought between the rebels led by Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy and the royal army under the recently-crowned usurper king, Henry IV. John Barratt’s volume is focused on placing the battle in the context of the Welsh rebellion led by Owen Glendower and the resistance to Henry IV led by the northern Percy lords. This is an interesting, well-written book and worth looking at. It isn’t perfect – the diagrams of the battle are hard to decipher, least of all due to an unfortunate font choice, and at one stage Barratt confuses the fates of the Lord Appellants, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Warwick. One more downside is that, while there is a bibliography, there is no in-text referencing at all and which makes it hard to track down other sources. Still, well worth the read.