The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century [Paperback]

Desmond Seward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

With the help of magnificent illustrations, the turbulent civil wars of medieval England are recreated through the lives of five larger-than-life people of the times, from soldier William Hastings to Lady Margaret Beaufort. 20,000 first printing. $20,000 ad/promo.

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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Between 1455 and 1485 the dynastic struggle in England between the houses of York and Lancaster, known as the Wars of the Roses, devastated the country and decimated the ranks of the nobility. Medievalist Desmond Seward examines the history through the biographies of five individuals. His choice of subjects mixes nobility and common soldier, and includes two extraordinary women. The result is a vividly human picture of a distant time and place. The text is supplemented with useful illustrations and background information. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Examination of England's tumultuous War of the Roses in the lives of five contemporary figures.

Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140234020
• ISBN-13: 978-0140234022
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,927,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A supplement to others on the subject, August 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century (Paperback)

Although Seward's approach to the Wars of the Roses was well researched and loaded with facts, his approach is disappointing. Seward relates the history of the Wars through the lives of five bit players: Margaret Beaufort (Henry Tudor's mother); William Hastings (Edward IV's friend & advisor); John Morton (Henry's advisor); John DeVere, Earl of Oxford (a Lancastrian); and Jane Shore (Edward IV's & William Hastings' mistress). The end result is disappointing because Seward is forced at many points to tie the bit players into the narrative through assumptions. In fact, Jane Shore's role is minimal; most of these sections are actually about her father, John Lambert.

On the plus side, Seward provides the reader with a number of features which leads the reader to a better understanding of the Wars and the players involved: a chronology; a who's who of the major and minor players which is accompanied by short biographies; and genealogical charts.

This book should be viewed as a supplement to other books on the Wars. The following books provide the reader with a much better understanding of the Wars of the Roses: 1. The Wars of the Roses by Charles Ross. This is a great survey of the period written by a professor of medieval history. 2. The Chronicles of the Wars of the Roses, edited by Elizabeth Hallam. A superbly written and illustrated survey which is unfortunately out of print. 3. The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir. Weir's book brilliantly covers the preludes to the Wars and the Wars through the reign of Edward IV.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but read something else first, October 10, 2003

By 

Mike Christie (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century (Paperback)

Seward has taken five key players in the Wars of the Roses and told their stories. The result is entertaining and full of good factual information, but as a story it is so lopsided as to be useless if you're not already familiar with the history of the period.

Seward writes well enough, though his style's not as entertaining as Alison Weir's (whose history of this period is a much better place to start). The problem is not his style, though; there are simply too many threads in the story for this to be a good way of telling it. Seward tries hard to make the historical sequence mesh with the stories of his five protagonists; he cuts the story into chapters which are in chronological order and each of which revolves primarily around one of the five. However, the points at which the book flows most smoothly as history are exactly the points where he focuses least on his protagonists.

If you don't think of this as a history of the Wars of the Roses, though, and instead think of it as five interlaced biographical sketches, this is a very worthwhile book. Because of the focus Seward has chosen, there is a lot more detail about these individuals than you will find in most of the histories. The men in particular stand out: the Earl of Oxford, William Hasting, and John Morton. The women (Margaret Beaufort and Jane Shore) are less memorable, sadly; mainly because there is so little actual information about them, and they were perforce only indirect players in much of the political manoeuvering of the age.

Recommended; but read something else first -- this is better as background material than as an overview of the period.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great supplement, October 6, 2000

By 

Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century (Paperback)

This history follows five second tier players through the War of the Roses: William Hastings, Edward IV's best friend; Jane Shore, their mistress; Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry Tudor - the top Lancastrian during the second phase of the war; Archbishop Morton, Henry's crafty advisor and the Earl of Oxford, a ranking Lancastrian.

This is not a good introduction to the war, not really revolving around the major players like Edward, Henry, Margaret of Anjou and Richard III - but if you are already familiar with the basics (read: Allison Weir), this should be the second book on your shelf about the subject. Each of the five protagonists changed the tide of the war at some point in either the battlefield, bedroom or negotiating room, and Seward makes their stories as riveting as the latest tabloid even when you know what's going to happen next. Especially interesting is the summary about the rest of the lives of the four survivors - most accounts of the war end with Richard III's death, their fates lost in the shuffle. Here, in this book, they get their due.