Edward IV [Hardcover]

Charles Derek Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1974

In his own time Edward IV was seen as an able and successful king who rescued England from the miseries of civil war and provided her with firm, judicious, and popular government. The prejudices of later historians diminished this high reputation, until recent research confirmed Edward as a ruler of substantial achievement, whose methods and policies formed the foundation of early Tudor government.

This classic study by Charles Ross places the reign firmly in the context of late medieval power politics, analyzing the methods by which a usurper sought to retain his throne and reassert the power of a monarchy seriously weakened by the feeble rule of Henry VI. Edward's relations with the politically active classes -- the merchants, gentry, and nobility -- form a major theme, and against this background Ross provides an evaluation of the many innovations in government on which the king's achievement rests.

"A rare combination of scholarship and shrewd common sense". -- John Raymond, Sunday Times

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles Ross was professor of medieval history at the University of Bristol before his death in 1986. Among his books is Richard III, also in the Yale English Monarchs series.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 495 pages
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr; First edition. edition (June 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520027817
• ISBN-13: 978-0520027817
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,218,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A puzzling tale well told, March 13, 2001

By 

John Cragg (Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Edward IV (The English Monarchs Series) (Paperback)

Edward IV is one of the great enigmas of history. Even how he was able to become King is not self-evident. His seizing the throne was then followed by government marked by occasional brilliance and great folly. For someone who at times was keenly aware of dynastic considerations, his own marriage was the height of folly compounded by giving far too much influence to the Queen's relatives. He gave far too much trust, power and wealth to a few individuals, especially the Earl of Warrick and his traitorous brother Clarence alienating in the process much of the established nobility and wrecking in his early years the King's finances. Overthrown in the course of his reign, he nevertheless succeeded in recapturing the throne in short order and then repairing his fortunes spectacularly. Even so, this was accompanied by the strangest series of preparations for invasion of France, ending in an almost farcical procession in Northern France and a pusillanimous retreat. Lazy, debauched, perceptive and effective-many such adjectives can be applied to him - and all miss the puzzling essence of the man and his reign. What a set of stories could be woven out of this material without clearly capturing the essence of the situation! One cannot help wondering why of the adult kings between Richard II and Henry VII, Edward IV alone did not attract Shakespeare's pen.

Charles Ross wrote a fascinating book on this puzzling ruler, making as clear as the scanty and somewhat unreliable records allow the course of Edward's life and reign, and the various episodes that both fascinate and puzzle. The book (with a short introduction by R.A. Grifffiths rather than a revision by him) proceeds first by laying out the story, and then returning to give separate investigation of various aspects of Edward's rule, such as governance, his relations with the community and his finances. This latter subject is particularly well handled, as is the penultimate chapter on law and order. The story is well told, without excessive pedantry and without any attempt to hide when the record is unclear or the author has had to make large interpretations. One may not really know or understand Edward by the end of the book, but one's feeling is that it is the man himself who escapes capture by the biographer's art, not any weakness of the biographer himself. For those interested in such matters - and this is not light reading - Griffith's biography should prove highly satisfying.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars scholarly presentation of the adventurous reign, May 17, 2001

By 

Boris Aleksandrovsky (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edward IV (The English Monarchs Series) (Paperback)

Charles Ross presents an unforgettable tale of the most confusing, uneven and adventurous reign of any king in the English history. Edward IV remains the only king who was able to loose a kingdom and them successfully reclaim the crown. Possessing remarkable talents in administration and warfare, he however managed to bring the treasury to almost complete ruin by the end of his term, and botch the most impressive show of force in France any English king (including Edward III and Henry V) can ever master to assemble. Edward IV lived in the extraordinary age, full with great personalities like Richard Warwick the "Kingmaker", Margaret, the queen of Henry VI, and his own kid brother Richard, future most vilified by Shakespeare king Richard the III.

It is very easy to fell victim to novelized history when relating the events as extraordinary as the events of Edward's reign. Not Charles Ross. He is extremely well researched and versed in the records of the period, and presents the somewhat dry details of the records of the Household and Exchequer, in an interesting way and extremely well cross-referenced. Internal English sources are corroborated by continental and papal records. I would recommend this book to a serious student of history.

Also see Charles Ross's "Richard III" for a mysterious, bloody, and tragically brief concluding reign of Plantagenet dynasty. This one is also highly recommended.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arguably the definitive work on the subject, November 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Edward IV (The English Monarchs Series) (Paperback)

The late Charles D. Ross presents here one of the most readable and interesting presentations of of English monarch ever written. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the king or his era-I used it extensively in my senior thesis!