Customer Reviews

Bosworth 1485: Last Charge of the Plantagenets (Praeger Illustrated Military History)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, some aspects of the review by Mr. Forczyk are true. But the shortage not absence of historical facts is normal in medieval warfare history (and in the history of warfare in general).To prove this you just have to look of the battles of Crecy and Agincourt which both have many versions (one of the most popular being the English longbow-armed superheroes slay the effiminate French knights despite beeing outnumbered 3 or 6:1).An author who statesthat he couldn't make out the actual positions of army contingents ,or exact casualty figures( which nobody counted then )is generally more worth than one who tells us at length about things where he has no resonable knowledge .The rest of that rewiew is nonfactual.The advance of forces,deployment and battle are dealt with in 45 pages.And this "brief dynastic skirmish" changed English history by a great degree, basically from the medieval routed Plantagenet realm to the renaissance Tudor monarchy.It is true that the battle is quickly told:1.deployment in 3 divisons.2.hail of arrows.3.men at arms charge the center of gravity of the enemy battlelines.But the book covers the background of the conflict, political powerplays, the commanders and the weaponry used very well for the space availible.All in all it is a good introduction to the "Wars of the Roses" seen from the end of it.To say something about the artwork:it is phenomenal.The pictures gave the book a great deal of livelines.

Very insightful study. The pictures not only bring the content to life but also make understanding easier.

I don't claim to be a scholar - far from it, but I know the book left out one thing I was looking for; a detailed account of Dick Crookback's demise. This was only glossed over by a line or two. Otherwise, there are some good images of actual reference material (i.e. pics of armor, effigies, period paintings, etc). Turner obviously has a mastery of depicting arms and armor, and has a nice out-of-doors look to his paintings, but I was a bit nonplussed at his portrayal of fighting men in action. They all look way too nonchalant, even when swinging a pole-axe, or as cavalry about to meet head-on.

I don't claim to be a scholar ('cuz I'm not), but I know the book left out one thing I was looking for; a detailed account of Dick Crookback's demise. This was only glossed over by a line or two. Otherwise, there are some good images of actual reference material (i.e. pics of armor, effigies, period paintings, etc). Turner obviously has a mastery of depicting arms and armor, and has a nice out-of-doors look to his paintings, but I was a bit nonplussed at his portrayal of fighting men in action. They all look way too nonchalant, even when swinging a pole-axe, or as cavalry about to meet head-on.

This is not one of the better of the Osprey Campaign series. The biggest weakness is the absence of detailed historical facts about the course of the 1485 Bosworth campaign, which encourages the author to extrapolate from a handful of facts. When the author depicts three possible different locations on the battle maps for the vital contingents of the Stanleys, it only serves to reinforce the vagueness of detail available on this battle. The actual fighting is covered in less than 10 pages out of 95. Furthermore, why a brief dynastic skirmish of a handful of Englishmen in the 15th Century merits a campaign title is never convincingly explained. There is very little actual detail throughout and this is further diminished by a writing style that moves at a sluggish pace. Information on order of battle and casualties is negligible. This is the kind of book that makes one want to read French, not English, history.