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A review by tbr_the_unconquered
Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir
3.0
In my rudimentary understanding of the British monarchy, I have always imagined the crown to be an unshakable and fixed image of royalty. That statement I made needs to be clarified a little : what I meant here was that I always assumed that once the crown is fixed on the brow of a man or a woman, it stays so until the end of days arrives for the person. But then I was wrong, there are challengers to every crown and nothing stays the same forever, especially not royal status. Beyond the historical thrills, the Wars of the Roses proved that this guesstimate of mine was absolutely wrong. Considering that each book read and each idea received molds the mind a little differently, this was a welcome change. Alison Weir’s book has the narrative pace of historic fiction but recounts the events of a tumultuous period in British history.
In Weir’s words :
This story begins in 1400 with the murder of one king, and ends in 1471 with the murder of another. One murder could be said to have been a direct result of the other. The story of what happened between 1400 and 1471, which is the story told in this book, answers the question: how?
There couldn’t have been a more succinct review of this book beyond this. Much intrigue, conspiracy, bloodshed and drudgery occurs between the lifetimes of Richard II and Henry VI. Contrary to what the title led me to believe, the Wars of the Roses involved maybe 19 decisive battles fought on a field. The bloodier battles were fought in the courtrooms, the parliament and the houses of high nobility. Following the highly acclaimed reign of Henry V, his son Henry VI comes to the throne and if historic accounts were to be believed then this was the start of a disastrous reign for the nation. Being a pious gentleman, Henry VI is not able to deliver the goods when it comes to military conquest and a chivalrous public image. Henry also does not hold his court of nobles in check and they run riot through the nation’s coffers. It was thus a time of high dissatisfaction for the populace with no military action, heavy taxes and general lawlessness. Adding insult to injury, Henry marries Margaret of Anjou who was French and thereby a dreaded enemy of the English during the age and era. Rival factions form at court, the citizens go bonkers and the Wars of the Roses erupts between the houses of Lancaster (Henry VI and his supporters) and York (the Duke of York and his supporters). The pendulum swings this way and that all through the seven decades and there are scandalous romances, skirmishes with France, bankrupt Italian merchants, vigilante citizens and a colorful crew of motley characters who populate the narrative with their adventures and exploits.
The heart of the matter is that this civil war was ultimately about power and of who wields the crown and sceptre of England. Things go back and forth between these factions so many times that I could only mentally mutter to Edward IV ’Man, you are the King of England how difficult is it to chase down and capture Margaret and her young son and their lieges?’ Edward however did not answer me and the chase goes on and on and on till it gets tedious and humdrum.
Weir is a great writer, it is certainly an act of talent to take a slightly complicated historical narrative and write a condensed version of a long chain of events. It is also not of much help that almost every one of the gentlemen are named Richard, Henry & Edward. The writing does have its negatives in that some of the characters are just black or white and others are merely inconsequential. Barring Henry VI, Edward IV and Margaret of Anjou and the Dukes of York and Salisbury, the others are not very well sketched. They come and go, barely eliciting any response from the reader.
Personally this was a starting point for me to get into British history. It is a topic that I have wanted to read up on for quite a long period now and I finally took the plunge. Recommended but come armed with a lot of patience.
In Weir’s words :
This story begins in 1400 with the murder of one king, and ends in 1471 with the murder of another. One murder could be said to have been a direct result of the other. The story of what happened between 1400 and 1471, which is the story told in this book, answers the question: how?
There couldn’t have been a more succinct review of this book beyond this. Much intrigue, conspiracy, bloodshed and drudgery occurs between the lifetimes of Richard II and Henry VI. Contrary to what the title led me to believe, the Wars of the Roses involved maybe 19 decisive battles fought on a field. The bloodier battles were fought in the courtrooms, the parliament and the houses of high nobility. Following the highly acclaimed reign of Henry V, his son Henry VI comes to the throne and if historic accounts were to be believed then this was the start of a disastrous reign for the nation. Being a pious gentleman, Henry VI is not able to deliver the goods when it comes to military conquest and a chivalrous public image. Henry also does not hold his court of nobles in check and they run riot through the nation’s coffers. It was thus a time of high dissatisfaction for the populace with no military action, heavy taxes and general lawlessness. Adding insult to injury, Henry marries Margaret of Anjou who was French and thereby a dreaded enemy of the English during the age and era. Rival factions form at court, the citizens go bonkers and the Wars of the Roses erupts between the houses of Lancaster (Henry VI and his supporters) and York (the Duke of York and his supporters). The pendulum swings this way and that all through the seven decades and there are scandalous romances, skirmishes with France, bankrupt Italian merchants, vigilante citizens and a colorful crew of motley characters who populate the narrative with their adventures and exploits.
The heart of the matter is that this civil war was ultimately about power and of who wields the crown and sceptre of England. Things go back and forth between these factions so many times that I could only mentally mutter to Edward IV ’Man, you are the King of England how difficult is it to chase down and capture Margaret and her young son and their lieges?’ Edward however did not answer me and the chase goes on and on and on till it gets tedious and humdrum.
Weir is a great writer, it is certainly an act of talent to take a slightly complicated historical narrative and write a condensed version of a long chain of events. It is also not of much help that almost every one of the gentlemen are named Richard, Henry & Edward. The writing does have its negatives in that some of the characters are just black or white and others are merely inconsequential. Barring Henry VI, Edward IV and Margaret of Anjou and the Dukes of York and Salisbury, the others are not very well sketched. They come and go, barely eliciting any response from the reader.
Personally this was a starting point for me to get into British history. It is a topic that I have wanted to read up on for quite a long period now and I finally took the plunge. Recommended but come armed with a lot of patience.