The Wars of the Roses

The dynastic struggles of the Wars of the Roses have been traditionally portrayed as belonging to one of the most dramatic periods in the history of England, creating an age of murder and melodrama. In his classic history of the wars, charting their origins, progress, conclusion and effects, Professor Lander sets the record straight by putting the wars into their contemporary context, basing his argument both on the written records of the time (many of which are reproduced in the text) and on the results of modern research, and scholarship. What emerges is a balanced view which shows that the wars were, in fact, very limited; while not denying that contemporary English society was disorderly and violent, Professor Lander suggests that this state of affairs was due far less to civil war than to habits of violence among all classes of society, the limited disciplinary powers of central government and the unsatisfactory state of the law of real property.
Totally revised since its first publication and richly illustrated, The Wars of the Roses offers an accurate and accessible overview of events in England during the latter half of the fifteenth century.

J.R. Lander is Professor Emeritus at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and one of the foremost authorities on fifteenth-century English political history. Among his other publications are Conflict and Stability in Fifteenth Century England, The Limitation of English Monarchy in the Later Middle Ages, Crown and Nobility 1450-1509, Power and Politics 1450-1509 and Government and Community in England 1450-1509.