Customer Reviews

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

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Sometimes history is simplified too much. We gloss over certain areas which results in history being distorted. When it comes to the period of British history historically called The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century, this book by Desmond Seward helps explain how much more intricate and complicated this period was.

Before reading The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century by Desmond Seward, I have to admit that I thought it was "War of the Roses". You might not think that one little letter makes that much of a difference, but in this case it makes a world of difference. Seward writes in detail the various battles, betrayals, murders, and deception that did not occur in a span of a year or two but over several decades. The fight for the English throne was not fought clean and fair.

Life in any royal court is full of intrigue. When it comes to the houses of York and Lancaster, this becomes an all-out bloodbath. The house of Lancaster obtained the throne through methods that were questionable but not much had really been made of it publically. Why would they when the famous Lancasterian King Henry V let the French know who they were and conquered a good deal of French soil? It was only when his less than capable son, Henry VI, stepped up to the throne that the wearer of the crown was questioned.

Henry VI was weak and, by some, considered stupid. His wife, on the other hand, was a force to be reckoned with as she was determined that her only son, Edward (not the York Edward), would inherit the crown though he eventually dies in battle. The house of York, who once sat on the throne, thought otherwise.

Seward explains how each side conspired to overthrow the throne and seat the next legitimate ruler on it. As you read this book, you realize that "legitimate" becomes a muddy word as heirs who were born out of wedlock were proclaimed legitimate while those that were born to a husband and wife were declared illegitimate. Whatever it took to grab control and power was done by both sides.

During this period, the throne exchanged hands multiple times. Henry VI lost it to Edward IV who lost it back to Henry VI who lost it back to Edward IV who beheaded Henry VI. Edward, whose one brother switched sides more than once, dies with multiple children which included two princes. As these youngsters were underage and not ready to officially rule a country their only surviving uncle, Richard, stepped in to "advise" them. The truth is Richard did not waste any time locking the two heirs in the Tower of London and crowning himself Richard III. The young princes disappeared as Richard fought to keep his stolen crown.

Rising up was the Lancaster house as they tried to take back the throne under the banner of who would be Henry VII. As usual, defeat can come when you underestimate an opponent. Richard did just that as he eliminated every possible heir to the throne, but one who was considered too removed from the line to inherit the crown. Richard did not look at the family chart close enough.

It was through a near final bloodbath that Richard III became the last English king to die in battle. Henry VII was crowned on the battle field. He took for his wife the oldest daughter of Edward IV to ensure no question of who should be on the throne and united both houses.

Seward explains how this period killed more nobility than any other period of English history. Dukes and Princes were slaughtered on the field, in their beds, or on the way home. Nothing was improbable during this time between the two sides.

What You Get From This Book:

· Family trees of both houses: York and Lancaster

· Coverage of all battles that made up the Wars

· Explanations of decisions made by each side

· A good understanding of this period and what was involved

· Cites many primary sources including eyewitness accounts.

· Covers both sides of the conflict well and does not show any bias.

What You Do Not Get From This Book:

· This is not an easy read. Though not mired in scientific terms, Seward goes into such detail that the various names and titles can get confusing. As one titled position is emptied it is refilled, and a whole new set of intrigue begins.

· Not a book for anyone younger than upper high school age.

I enjoyed this book immensely as it cleared up many of my notions of the Wars of the Roses. A period of English history that has been romanticized or forgotten over the years was laid out in detail and explained well. I highly recommend Sewards's The Wars of the Roses if you are interested in English history and would like to learn more about this dark time.

While I enjoyed Seward's approach to this topic - he examines the civil strife as it affected the lives of William Hastings, Margaret Beaufort, John Morton, John de Vere and Jane Shore - it's not a book for those without some knowledge of the Wars of the Roses. The transition is often difficult to follow. It's as if the book were edited to reduce the size of the content so that a paragraph may contain a series of pronouns with no obvious name to attach to them.

I also found the citations to information stated as fact to be inconsistent. Some claims were cited; many were not. Although certainly by the sections on Richard III, it was obvious that the majority of his sources were the controversial early chroniclers, such as Sir Thomas More.

Despites these problems, I enjoyed the book. I don't necessarily swallow Seward's interpretation of events, but they do inform about the traditionalist viewpoint. He could have toned down his bias against the Yorkists, but that would have made for very dry reading.

If you have a basic handle on the time period, or if you're a student of Ricardian history, this book adds to the body of literature available because of its focus on the lives of lesser known players.

The author writes a very interesting book of a very complex time. Although I am no medevilist, Seward's presentation allowed me to follow the events and charactors through the story.

This book would interest anyone who exists in an environment devoid of rules or strong central aughority figures where the actors have strong interests they must advance or defend. Anyone in a large corporation or the political world will recognize this Machevellian climate where getting things done requires alliances with those who may abandon you around the next bend in pursuit of their objectives. I serve in a legislative body and this book at times bore strong resemblance to the tussles and battles waged on the inside of the assembly.

Seward's book is very readable and fascinating for the historical era it evokes and the inteplay of interests displayed in the ruthless struggle to come out on top.

If you are a fan of the War of the Roses period and you've read many books on it, I strongly recommend this one. Rather than repeating some of the same old facts, speculating about what actually happened independent of source material, or arguing for one side or the other, this book brings the period alive in ways I haven't seen yet.

Seward picks five disparate characters, including Edward IV's mistress Jane Shore, and shows how it felt to be alive during that period of civil war from their perspective. What I enjoyed about the book was - FOR ONCE - you are not just hearing about the war of the roses from the nobles' perspective.

For example, by using Jane Shore to illuminate London mayoral politics, you learn more about London, which was fascinating in that period. You learn about Edward IV's interaction with a completely different group of people - the merchants - who were not only critical in his military victories but also a huge part of his everyday life as a merchant.

I do agree that Seward may not be the perfect introduction to the period - in fact if you are studying for an exam it definitely wouldn't be. However, the war of the roses is incredibly complex and for anyone trying to learn about the period, they will need to read *several* (if not half a dozen) books to really begin to get it. No one book really sums it up perfectly.

It should be noted that this book has a more commercial and less academic tone. Frankly, I think this is great. The period is so complex and yet fascinating. More people in the general public would be interested in the period if more accessible books were written.

I also thought that Seward does an admirable job with his analysis of Clarence's downfall. He sheds some light on events before the Ankarette Twynyho affair that reveal an admirable level of research on Seward's part.

The author consciously attempted to write a book in the style of Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror" and was 80% successful. That still makes it a very good book and the reader has quite a bit of fun while learning about the bizarre civil war in 15th century England. Why only 80%? Because instead of following ONE person (a la Tuchman) he follows FIVE and that gets a bit confusing for the casual reader and leads to some discontinuities in the history. Still -- buy it and enjoy!

This book is fast-paced, realistic, and superbly written. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the Wars of the Roses, or who wants the story to be told in a more personal matter. It's another two thumbs up!

Having read the author's excellent work on the military religious orders, I frankly expected much more on this, a familiar topic. I was extremely disappointed. In addition to misstatements of fact, his main objective seemed to be to blacken the name of every Yorkist who gained the throne, as well as that of Richard, duke of York. Further, he makes the rather unpleasant Henry VII Tudor virtually into a god. All in all, the book appears to display an unfortunate animus and is overly concerned with Richard III, a subject handled with much greater dexterity by Weir and others, whether or not you agree with their conclusions. This was not a book on the Wars of the Roses, but on the general familial and cultural milieu which formed the character of Richard III. It should have been so titled.