64 used & new from $0.13

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Tell the Publisher! I�d like to read this book on Kindle Don�t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Blood and Roses: One Family's Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "PASTON VILLAGE, NORFOLK. 1400. Against the immense East Anglian sky stood the imposing silhouette of a newly built church, its flint walls bearing witness to..." (more)
Key Phrases: perilous dwelling, heartiest kinsman and friend, drone among bees, John Paston, King Edward, King Henry (more...)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

19 new from $1.98 42 used from $0.13 3 collectible from $16.85

Formats		Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Hardcover Available from these sellers. Published March 31, 2006	Hardcover, March 31, 2006	--	$1.98	$0.13
	See # more hardcovers
	Show fewer hardcovers
Paperback $12.44 In Stock. Published March 31, 2007	Paperback, March 31, 2007	$12.44	$3.79	$1.85
	See # more paperbacks
	Show fewer paperbacks

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Ties that Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England

by Barbara A. Hanawalt

4.6 out of 5 stars (5) $17.95

The King's Daughter. A Novel of the First Tudor Queen (Rose of York)

by Sandra Worth

3.8 out of 5 stars (32) $6.00

Richard I (The English Monarchs Series)

by Professor John Gillingham

4.9 out of 5 stars (9) $50.00

Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster

by Alison Weir

3.9 out of 5 stars (17) $18.48

Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe

by Nancy Goldstone

3.8 out of 5 stars (31) $6.00

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Referring to publication of the Paston letters, the "literary sensation" of 1787, Horace Walpole said, "I cannot bear to be writing when I am so eager to be reading." The letters are a collection of roughly 1,000 documents written by four generations over the course of some 70 years that provide astonishingly intimate insight into late medieval English life during the tumultuous War of the Roses. The Pastons began as peasant farmers, rose to the status of minor Norfolk gentry and strove mightily to improve their lot through the courts, business and marriage. In this multigenerational biography, Castor tells their story as a sweeping whole and allows readers to understand these people's mental world, one so alien to us and yet strikingly familiar in the most unexpected of ways. Much of their story revolves around the acquisition of land and how they tried (not always successfully) to keep it out of the hands of their sometimes violent neighbors. Castor, a history fellow at Cambridge University, nicely summarizes the complexities of 15th-century politics and culture without losing her momentum. Beautifully paced and splendidly retold, Castor's tale of one family trying to survive and thrive against the odds is popular history at its best. 8 pages of color photos, 1 map. (Apr. 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Castor takes as the basis of this scholarly yet readable book the trove of letters written by members of a 15th-century English family who had climbed into the ranks of the lesser aristocracy. Other writers have taken advantage of this incredible collection, but Castor offers both the letters and a comprehensive and nuanced grasp of the world in which the Pastons lived. She has created realistic portraits, from Judge William to his embattled son John and John's hardy wife, Margaret, to their sons, the irrepressibly optimistic Sir John and his reliable stay-at-home younger brother and namesake, John. The author uses the family's story to illuminate a nation in which the Wars of the Roses had eliminated all of the old certainties for its inhabitants and forced them to think anew. Good-quality color photos and illustrations are included. For anyone who is interested in history or the Middle Ages, this book is highly recommended. For anyone who thinks that this period was boring, it's a necessity.–Ted Westervelt, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins; US-only edition (April 11, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007148089
ISBN-13: 978-0007148080
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #609,939 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Helen Castor Page

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
PASTON VILLAGE, NORFOLK. 1400. Against the immense East Anglian sky stood the imposing silhouette of a newly built church, its flint walls bearing witness to the prosperity, as well as the piety, of those who worshipped there. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
perilous dwelling, heartiest kinsman and friend, drone among bees, probate hearing

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Paston, King Edward, King Henry, Sir John Fastolf, William Paston, Lord Moleyns, Archbishop Neville, John Heydon, Queen Margaret, Lord Scales, Thomas Howes, William Worcester, Lord Hastings, East Beckham, Thomas Daniel, Richard Calle, East Anglia, John Daubeney, Bishop Wainfleet, Henry Tudor, Tower of London, John Damme, Common Pleas, Friar Brackley, Earl Rivers

New!
Concordance | Text Stats

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	85% buy the item featured on this page: Blood and Roses: One Family's Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses 4.5 out of 5 stars (8)
	5% buy The Rose of York: Fall from Grace 4.5 out of 5 stars (13) $11.53
	4% buy Elizabeth: England's Slandered Queen (England's Forgotten Queens) 5.0 out of 5 stars (3)
	3% buy The Sunne In Splendour: A Novel of Richard III 4.9 out of 5 stars (164) $12.66

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

history(3)

british history(2)

english history(2)

european history(1)

henry vi(1)

historical dimensions and perspectives(1)

memoirs - correspondence - interviews(1)

nonfiction(1)

richard iii(1)

war and peace(1)

wars of the roses(1)

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

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

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely engrossing., May 14, 2006

By	Nicholas Warren (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

I can't praise this book too highly. On one level, it is the story of a tumultuous period in late mediaeval (15th century)England (The Wars of the Roses). On another level, it is the detailed story of the rise of the Paston family from a bondsman farmer (tied to the land) to gentry who could marry into the aristocracy. The interplay of these two brings alive the former. Along the way, Helen Castor tells the more circumscribed story with numerous asides explaining the significance of things we would find difficult to relate to today (e.g., the vaguaries of legal rights to land, or the severe economic consequences of selling a forest to pay debt), but which were so important at the time.

If you have any interest in history at all (particularly English late mediaeval, though not, by any means, restricted to that) do read this book. Helen Castor writes beautifully and brings the period alive.

This is anything but "dry-as-dust" history - it will carry you along like the best of Dumas, even though it is non-fiction. Brava Helen; I can't wait for the next.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, December 26, 2004

By	litchick "litchick" (toronto) - See all my reviews

How little people change! In a world of chicanery and deviousness with a civil war raging, how does a family fend off enemies and progress in wealth and status? Castor uses the private correspondence of the Paston family to weave a fascinating story of a family's struggles and survival during the War of the Roses.

Battles, beheadings, political mayhem, worrying about the son in London who seems to be a spendthrift dilettante and the daughter sleeping with an employee when she should be aspiring to at least a knight if not a duke. It's all here along with whether it is better to rescue your wife trapped in the manor surrounded by men with crossbows, or let nature take its course!

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent but sometimes complicated story of landownership in early modern England, October 26, 2006

By	B. Pym (Berkeley CA USA) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed this book very much. It is specifically about the family's history during the period of the War of the Roses, and this time really comes alive with all of its uncertainties and political instability. The book occasionaly gets mired in extensive detail about the property problems faced by the family - but certainly shows how much has changed in terms of security of land tenure and property rights since this period. It probably helps to have some initial knowledge of Plantagenet vs. York issues to get into the book, but as a layman myself, I was able to follow the bigger story, of deposed kings and usurpers fairly easily, and was thoroughly engrossed as well in the personality profiles of the kings, princes, peers, and queens depicted.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 8 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Land Sales, Acquisition, Title Disputes Galore
This book reads like the basis for the endless court case at the center of "Bleak House". The Paston Family left an impressive collection of letters, but a good number of them... Read more

Published 24 months ago by Kari L. Rhoades

5.0 out of 5 stars 15th Century Microcosm
I was pleasantly surprised, recently, by Helen Castor's "Blood and Roses". I had expected another urbane, boring, and dusty history for England's most turbulent civil war- the... Read more

Published on June 24, 2007 by Readalots

4.0 out of 5 stars Real Estate- A Perilous Career in 15th Century England

This is a highly unusual book. I believe this is the sort of material that's usually buried in PhD theses and never reaches a general audience. Read more

Published on February 9, 2007 by Loves the View

5.0 out of 5 stars Wheel of fortune
Now I understand the Mediaeval belief in a wheel of fortune. This book really does portray middle class life in the fifteenth century with a realism rarely encountered. Read more

Published on May 22, 2006 by Geoffrey H. Dalton

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable history!
Excellent, very readable account of family life in the late 1400's, set against tumultuous times of civil war. Read more

Published on September 22, 2005 by Paul Walmsley

› See all 8 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
history THE FIRST WORLD WAR - who wants to talk about it?	90	6 minutes ago
history Holocaust Denial Dissected	3007	1 hour ago
biography So has anyone preordered Sarahs book?	41	5 hours ago
biography Judicial biographies anyone?	20	1 day ago
memoir Have You Written a Memoir - Come Tell Us About It.	1224	1 day ago
memoir Most satisfying memoirs?	27	2 days ago
british history United States and Canadian Relations	2	11 days ago