FROM WAKEFIELD AND TOWTON: WAR OF THE ROSES (Battleground Medieval Britain) [Paperback]

Philip A. Haigh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2002

Richard III has come to be the most famous figure to emerge from Britain's War of the Roses, largely due to the play by William Shakespeare, but this 30-year conflict (1455-1485) had a large cast of heroes and villains, and saw the biggest and fiercest battles ever fought on English soil. This new book in the format of the popular Battleground Europe series concentrates on two major battles fought during the pivotal years of 1460 and 1461. As 1460 drew to a close, Edward, Duke of York (white roses) was in open revolt against the Lancastrian (red roses) king, Henry VI. A superior Lancastrian force ambushed Edward and killed him and many of his men; Edward's head was subsequently displayed over the main gate of his own city of York.

Thirsting for revenge, the Duke's son, also named Edward (who later reigned as Edward IV), gathered a force and sought out the Lancastrian host. On March 29, 1461 the two armies collided in a blinding snowstorm near the town of Wakefield in what was to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. The prevailing wind blew in the faces of the Lancastrian archers and the Yorkists were triumphant after a six-hour battle. As was often the case during the War of the Roses, the defeated army was mercilessly pursued and prominent leaders were executed when captured. This heavily illustrated account uses the Battleground Europe format to describe in detail these historic parts of Britain both then and now, an approach particularly important for medieval battles that must be more painstakingly reconstructed than more modern ones. Those seeking background material on Shakespeare's four plays on Henry VI and Richard III will also find this book useful.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Leo Cooper (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0850528259
• ISBN-13: 978-0850528251
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,220,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars got to love those driving tours, February 22, 2008

By 

Douglas E. Libert "howitt" (parkersburg wv) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: FROM WAKEFIELD AND TOWTON: WAR OF THE ROSES (Battleground Medieval Britain) (Paperback)

an expert on the Wars of the Roses,Haigh has,severely condensed the 1460 campaign yet delivered an acurrate picture that makes a great driving tour of the campaign.I however preferred to do the tour from an armchair,thus avoiding getting lost and being "hustled" by a local as I stop for directions.Even worse having an accident trying to read the maps which are great,but you know even the best of maps can leave one confused perhaps by road construction or another accident caused by someone trying to read a tourmap.Or as you stop for directions someone with a gambling problem, might hope they've seen your face on a poster and be pressed to call the police for a reward.
Anyways with the pictures,artists renditions and maps this is a great book .Margaret of Anjou(Shakespeare's witch),wife of Henry VI,comes off as the one wearing the pants for the house of Lancaster in this tourguide,much like a Queen Boudica.She apparently is not hesitant to send her rival house of Yorkers to the block.The wars of the Roses is a difficult period to study because the main actor Lords and nobles keep changing sides sometimes so suddenly that you have to reread the paragraph a dozen times,but Haigh has reduced some of the confusion by keeping to the most important facts.
Fortunately too the English haven't lost their sense of humour in trying to be politically correct.There is a good picture of Richard of Yorks' head at Micklegate Bar complete with paper crown.It's purely wax and remember that no actual wax figures were injured in this production,please don't call the publisher.