Synopsis
For a brief period in the late fifteenth century, the North was the dominant region in England: it was both the adopted home and the base of power of Richard III. In this study Pollard analyzes the regional politics of this area and the interrelationship between province and center from the beginning of the Neville-Percy feud in the 1450s to the establishment of Tudor authority by 1500. Covering such topics as Anglo-Scottish relations, local government, the structure of landed society, the wealth, power, and outlook of lords and gentry, and the economy of the region, Pollard offers a first-rate history of lay society at the end of the middle ages.
Review
'an inspiring enterprise ... Dr Pollard has produced a wide-ranging survey of the society and politics of the north-eastern counties, over a fifty-year period in which, he argues, the area exercised a major influence over national affairs.' J.L. Watts, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, EHR Jun '94 `important regional study ... Dr Pollard makes telling use of the topography and local archives which he knows so well. At last County Durham receives proper treatment! There are good detailed discussions of local agriculture, the patronage of churches, younger sons, the chase, and the northerners' own response to their plantation by Richard III in the south. Local government is treated fully yet succinctly. There are valuabele new perspectives on the formative role of Anglo-Scottish rellations, the start of the Percy-Neville feud ... a major contribution to our historical understanding.' M.A. Hicks, King Alfred's College, Winchester, Northern History, Vol. XXVIII `With the upsurge of interest in medieval regional history there will be warm welcome for Dr Pollard's massive survey of lay society, war and politics between 1450 and 1500. Dr Pollard's book ... is interesting, readable and important; it cries out for companion volumes on Northumberland and the Borders, not to mention the rest of Yorkshire, and who but Dr Pollard should undertake the task?' G.C.F. Forster, University of Leeds, History, October 1992 `This is a wide-ranging survey ... the book works well as a regional study - itself a novel concept - and provides a great deal of interesting information, particularly on religious attitudes, the influence of the Border and the impact of agragrian crisis.' Medium Aevum `a definitive history of the north east and its inhabitants during the Wars of the Roses ... splendid book ... while displaying a formidable scholarship throughout, he never ceases to be both readable and thought-provoking ... Such a bald and incomplete summary as that provided in these few paragraphs can in no way do justice either to A.J. Pollard's powerful thesis or his magnificent scholarship. ' Keith Dockray, The Ricardian, December 1991
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