Customer Reviews

The Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury

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I selected this product for research - currently writting a period novel (or 2) in which my Irish characters are in England during the battle of Barnet. The book was exceptionally helpful, gave great insight into the events leading up to the famous battles and the strategy employed by the commanders.

It was well worth the purchase.

This book is brief but covers the political machinations of the movement of the two opposing armies at Barnet and Tewkesbury.You can feel the tension as the House of Lancaster(under Queen Margaret and her generals) tries to concentrate its army to meet York's military might(under King Edward IV).Will Magarets' army be able to cross the Severn River and unite with their allies or will Edward be able to bring them to battle before they can mass. The burden is clearly on Edward because the Lancasterian war machine is already formidable,if it can reach its allies it will be virtually unstoppable.Since both houses have a legitimate claim to the British throne it's just a case of getting there,"firstist with the mostest" to quote Bedford Forrest.Lancaster is backed by the Frankish kingdom and it allies and York is fronted by the european Charles of Burgundy,so neither side can say they represent a "nativist" English movement.
The chase ends at Tewkesbury but it may in fact have been over a week or so earlier at Barnet where the house of Lancaster lost its top commander Warwick.Imagine if Sherman fell before Atlanta.This is why Barnet is given top billing over Tewkesbury in this book.Usually Tewkesbury receives top billing,because HenryIV's army(under command of the warrior queen Margaret),was annihilated at Tewkesbury.Edward the 4th comes off as a raging lion in this book, persuing Warwick and Magaret,wisely cautious yet going for a definite kill.
There are great pictures including the skulls of Clarence and his wife at Tewkesbury Abbey and a brief but great map of the chase.In the inside cover there is a painting of an armoured knight confronting some priests at Tewkesbury Abbey.If you read this book you will understand this painting with no questions.