The Wars of the Roses - Softcover

Goodman, Professor Anthony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752437313 ISBN 13: 9780752437316

Publisher: The History Press, 2006

Synopsis

Historians have researched extensively the motives and fortunes of kings, nobles, and gentlemen in the Wars of the Roses, that bewildering sequence of rebellions fought between 1455 and 1485. The shadows cast by the awesome puppet masters of the Wars, like Richard of York, Warwick the Kingmaker, or Richard III, add to the mist which swirls around the mass of participants. What sort of people were the soldiers? Why did they repeatedly buckle and saddle up for combat? What hopes and fears kept them awake, lying under the stars?

About this title

From the Publisher

Historians have researched extensively the motives and fortunes of kings, nobles and gentlemen in the Wars of the Roses, that bewildering sequence of rebellions fought between 1455 and 1485. The shadows cast by the awesome puppet masters of the Wars, like Richard of York, Warwick the Kingmaker or Richard III, add to the mist which swirls around the mass of participants, Englishmen, Welshmen and others, including women and children. They were mostly commoners, the fifteenth-century equivalent of the "Poor Bloody Infantry." What sort of people were they? Why did they repeatedly buckle and saddle up for combat? What hopes and fears kept them awake, lying under the stars? How did they behave on the way in alehouses and when they encountered beguiling lasses? In the sixteenth century, history-writing was to depict the Wars luridly as theatres of blood, as reflected in Shakespeare's history plays. Did such views square with family and folk traditions?

About the Author

Anthony Goodman was, until his recent retirement, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh. His other books include John of Gaunt, Richard II: The Art of Kingship, War and Border Societies in the Middle Ages, The Wars of the Roses: Military Activity and English Society, 1452-97, and History of England from Edward II to James I. His next book Margaret of Anjou: England's Warrior Queen will also be published by Tempus. He lives in Edinburgh.

Edition details

• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752437313
• ISBN 13: 9780752437316
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288