Fatal Colours: Towton, 1461

by George Goodwin

The Battle of Towton 1461 was unique in its ferocity and brutality, as the armies of two kings of England engaged with murderous weaponry and in appalling conditions to conclude the first War of the Roses. Variously described as the largest, longest and bloodiest battle on English soil, Towton was fought with little chance of escape and none of surrender. Yet, as if too ghastly to contemplate, the battle itself and the turbulent reign of Henry VI were neglected for centuries. Combining medieval sources and modern scholarship, George Goodwin expertly creates the backdrop of 15th-century England. From the death of Henry V, with his baby son's inheritance first of England, then of France, he chronicles the vicissitudes of the 100 Years War abroad and the vicious in-fighting at home. He brilliantly describes a decade of breakdown of both king and kingdom, as increasingly embittered factions struggle for supremacy that could only be secured after the carnage of Towton

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Military History, Military Fiction, 15th Century, British Literature

Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall the author provided a decent and interesting account of this period in English history but to me failed in presenting enough information on the main topic of the book, the actual Battle of Towton in 1461. The book is just under 200 pages but only about 10-12 pages covers the fighting/battle of Towton so I was a bit disappointed with the book.

If you have read on the War of the Roses then this has nothing new really to offer. I was looking for a detailed description/account of this horrific battle. If you haven’t read on the War of the Roses then this book offers lots of interesting information about the dynastic rivalries leading up to this fateful period in British history.

The author also covers subjects such as chivalry, the long bow as a weapon, armour, tactics, the beginning of the blood feuds between Lancastrians and Yorkists and a range of other subjects, however I personally wanted a military account of the Battle of Towton which I don’t think I really received by reading this book. I finished this book with a feeling of being let down.

[Myke Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent narrative history of The Wars of the Roses overall, but not of Towton, as the jacket copy advertises. In fact, the battle itself is relegated to the final 10% of the book. That this false advertising didn't put me off is a compliment to Goodwin's excellent ability to make an intensely academic and complex topic accessible to the lay reader. He also uses the material record with a skill not normally apparent in writers of his stripe. His section on the wound characteristics and historical extrapolation alone makes the purchase price worthwhile. Well worth your time.

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lover of all things Medieval, I'm fairly well versed in English history from Henry III through the Tudors (I know, a bit beyond the Middle Ages). I'm not, however, knowledgeable about the military engagements or weapons of the period. For this reason, I was reluctant to read this book, as I'm generally more interested in the why's of particular conflicts rather than how they went down. This book does an excellent job of setting the scene before describing the actual battle.

I've seen the unfavourable reviews of this book, which claim there's too much history and not enough battle. I must respectfully disagree. It's true that the majority of the book describes the key players and political climate that ultimately culminated in the Battle of Towton, however I think it's impossible to appreciate the utter brutality and vastness of Towton without first understanding how you got there.

This book begins with a brief history of Henry V and his brothers before diving in to a thorough look at the lives and personalities of Henry VI, Richard Duke of York, Margaret of Anjou, and eventually Richard Neville Earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker), Duke of Suffolk, and the Duke of Somerset and his heirs. This information is vital to understand, and even empathise with, the people and events that became known as The Wars of the Roses.

There were several battles before Towton, and this book does a remarkable job at bringing those engagements to life. As one who's not a military historian, i still had no trouble following the battle scenes. I honestly felt as though I were watching them unfold from a nearby hill, so detailed and realistic was the prose. This is especially true for the final battle, Towton. Not only is the military strategy vividly expressed, you're also given well researched information regarding the weapons and battle wear, both of the nobles and the common soldier. After probably 100 books on the period, this is the first to truly paint an evocative portrait of the entire era that was the Wars of the Roses.

If you're looking for a book solely on the Battle of Towton, may I suggest skipping to the last quarter or so of the book. However, if you are at all interested in the events leading up to that bloodiest of battles, including the battles that preceded it, I highly recommend this book!

Having never been interested in the specifics of the military actions, I can honestly say that this book has changed that for me. A new window has been opened in my mind, and I can give no greater compliment than that.

[Eleanor Fieldson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book explaining the run up to the battle of Towton - I know others wanted more on the battle itself but I enjoyed learning more of the wider context (particularly as I’m quite squeamish!)

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

DH's cousin lives down the road from Towton, and all round the area there are bodies buried in graveyards from the battle. I understood that the battle was one of the deciding moments in English history, but I never understood why. Yes, I knew it was gruesome, but wasn't that the nature of medieval warfare?

Well, now I really do understand why Towton was such a schismatic event. The mental degeneration of a king, the rise of his consort as a power in her own right, the complexities of various competing claims to the throne, the lingering effects of the Black Death on society and finally, the willingness of two opposing groups to viciously hack their fellow countrymen to pieces in a blizzard, and then drive them into an icy river or hunt them down and kill them like animals.

10% of able-bodied men in England and Wales were estimated to have fought at Towton, and ultimately it didn't settle the monarchy decisively. Within 30 years, a determined, focused man with the most tenuous claim to the throne, who had spent his entire life on the run, took the throne by force once again, although his dynasty ended in just over 100 years.

Great book. 4 stars. I really liked it.

[RJay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is misleading - it's less about the actual battle of Towton than it is about what political forces led to the battle of Towton. As an amateur Plantagenet historian, this is one of the best books I've read to understand what really caused the Cousins' War - later deemed the Wars of the Roses. The author goes into great depth to explain the forces in play after Henry V's death, leaving the kingdom inherited by his infant son Henry VI. It clarifies the roles of Henry V's brothers' spheres of influence,the role of the Beauforts, and the burgeoning factions at court, including the rise in power of the Earl of Warwick. And ultimately the alienation (and assassination attempts) of both Richard, Duke of York and the Earl of Warwick. All of this, combined with the mental illness and inability of Henry VI to rule effectively formented a molitov cocktail unlike anything ever seen before on English soil. So, I highly recommend the book for these reasons. The pages on the Battle of Towton are informative but only really encompass one chapter. However, the maps and explanation of the rolls topography and weather played were enlightening.

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this work but, in the end, I found it a gripping account of one of the most traumatic and bloody chapters in our country's history. Other readers found the description of the Battle of Towton quite sketchy and it's true it is only a small proportion of the book. But I think it is surely right to try to explain the events that led those men to be standing on that field in 1461. I also wonder how much source material you can expect to draw on for an event that happened some 650 years ago.

[Susan]

This one looks good!

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an example of a solid and well-written battle study that is mainly of interest to those who are fond of reading about the Wars of the Roses and about the nature of politics during late medieval England. This book is largely of interest to readers in England (witness, for example, the spelling of colors in the title), but general readers of military history who are interested in the period will appreciate this work as well as a sound and somewhat broad battle study. One of the aspects of this book that are shared with many whole-length books on single battles is that a significant amount of time is spent on the context of the battle and comparatively little on the battle itself. And so it is, for example, that a substantial portion of this book is spent discussing aspects that the ideal reader of this book is going to already be familiar with, namely the political hostility in England that rose between the death of Henry V and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses and the way that this hostility was fomented by various actors for selfish political gain. While this book is definitely a battle study, it also belongs in the tradition of war & society literature rather than being focused on matters of tactics.

This book is a relatively short one at just over 200 pages, and it is well that it seeks to broaden the scope of looking at Towton, because in order to be a book it likely could not have much less material than it does to be published in contemporary circumstances. The book begins with a list of illustrations and an introduction as well as a discussion of the people involved in high politics in England first between 4122 and 1450 as well as in Spring of 1460 and a prologue as the author takes some time to set the stage for Towton by discussing the complexities of English bastard feudalism and the various participants in the struggle for political power during the reign of the ineffective and perhaps mentally ill Henry VI. After that the author talks about the step too far at St. Albans that led to the outbreak of hostilities in 1455 (1) before going back in time to discuss the difficult legacy of Henry V for his infant son during a long minority (2) and the absence of capability and interest in that king upon ruling actively upon reaching adulthood (3). After this comes questions of absent-minded kings (4), the problem of honor (5), as well as the transformation of the queen into a fierce defender of her son's interests (6). After this comes a look at Warwick (7), the rise of Edward IV (8), and a discussion of the regional nature of conflict in this phase of the War of the Roses (9). Finally, after all of this context and discussion, there is after 150 pages of material a look at the battle of Towton itself (10), before the author discusses its aftermath, a look at the smaller list of people active in English political life after the slaughter of an appreciable portion of England's male population, the wound man, family trees, notes, a select bibliography, places to visit, acknowledgements, and an index.

How a reader will feel about this book depends on various factors. Those readers who are looking and most interested in a detailed discussion of the progress of the battle itself may be disappointed by the brief amount of discussion here about such matters, although there is plenty of tactical commentary on the earlier battles of the Wars of the Roses up to this point, so those readers ought to find at least enough tactical material to be of interest. The ideal reader of this book, though, is one who is particularly interested in the political questions of Towton and in its ramifications of the continuing regional divide within England between the North and South of the country that exists to this day as well as the challenge that late medieval politics in England (and other places, it should be noted) presented to leaders looking for regime locks in periods of drastic weakness at the top. England was a state in the Middle Ages whose unity required success in war, and as a result had predictable periods of internal disorder in the aftermath of failure in war abroad, as happened after the final defeat in France at the end of the Hundred Years' War, when the disruptive and violent energies of England's fractious nobles could no longer be directed in an outward direction towards conquest.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fatal Colours: The Battle of Towton 1461
By George Goodwin
Reviewed November 23, 2022


Fatal Colours is the story of the Battle of Towton, and much more. In fact, the actual Towton Campaign takes up only the last 60-some pages out of 194. Before that, however, we go back several decades to the coronation of 7-year-old Henry and the deteriorating political situation in England.

I found this part quite fascinating, as reading about Henry VI was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. His lack of governing skills was apparent from an early age, and the author makes the case that Henry suffered from some form of schizophrenia, inherited no doubt from his mother’s family which included a grandfather who thought he was made of glass.

Even if he was not born with schizophrenia or some other mental disorder, it surely didn’t help his emotional development when as a child, he was surrounded by men who literally despised each other and “the vendetta between Gloucester and Beaufort (both of them the boy’s uncles), played out before Henry as an infant, child and minor, could have had a lasting impact on him.”

It is very possible that growing up in such a hostile environment “could have led to a desire to avoid all conflicts; how it would mean that, on achieving his majority, he would give everything to anyone who asked, rather than suffer a moment’s discord. It also explains why he would wish, indeed would need, to be protected by an inner clique based in his household and with privileged access to him. For it would be they who would carry out the administration of government on his behalf, first under Suffolk and then under Somerset.”

From that point on, it was just a matter of waiting for the tragedy to unfold, both for Henry and for his country.

“Here was a boy damaged by being forced to witness the vicious vendetta of those closest to him. Here was a man trapped in a position for which he was totally unsuited, but from which he could not escape. Most importantly, here was a king expected to rule his country, who never, at nay stage of his life, had the capacity to do so.”

Henry VI’s lack of governing ability led directly to lawlessness, with lords and nobles ignoring the taking of grievances to the Courts, and instead took the law into their own hands. And here’s a bit of trivia for you. Among the more “colorful” characters was James Fiennes, “Lord Saye, Treasurer of England, Chamberlain of the Household, Warden of the Cinque Ports, and a direct if distant ancestor of actor Ralph Fiennes.”

As for the Duke of York, we are presented with a man almost obsessed with matters of honor. To us, this might sound petty, but the author points out that “York did not have a modern mind. Chivalric honour mattered intensely to him.” He saw Somerset’s failings, especially the loss of Normandy, as something personal, because that loss was not only cowardly in his eyes, but also kept York from “fulfilling his obligations to his dependant liegemen (in Normandy) by a third party – Somerset.” Each time he saw Somerset escape what he thought of as justice, York’s hatred became that much more intense, and when the king failed to take appropriate action, York saw taking up arms as his only recourse. Later events at the First Battle of St Albans, with the killings of Somerset, Northumberland, and Clifford, turned what happened next into a blood feud between York and his supporters, and the heirs of the three slain lords.

Margaret of Anjou, Henry’s queen, is shown as a woman who was transformed by the events swirling around her husband and, by extension, her and her son, Edward. It is possible that the common people of England viewed Margaret with suspicion. A French Queen of England at a time when the French had defeated them? But in the beginning, Margaret was a typical medieval queen – loyal, submissive, mediating, and very traditional. But the threats she saw to herself and her son, and her husband’s inability to do much (if anything) about this, forced her into taking matters into her own hands, and to those who crossed her path she could be a very formidable opponent.

In many ways, reading about the events leading up to Towton is like reading a classical tragedy, one that might never have needed to happen if only a more competent man had been on the throne. But that’s the problem with kingships anywhere, heirs are almost always determined not by ability and qualifications, but upon an accident of birth.

By the time we get to Towton, we have gone through York’s flight to Ireland and short-lived triumphant return, his moving his forces to Sandal Castle and the Battle of Wakefield fought on either December 30 or 31, 1460, which resulted in his death and the death of his second eldest son, Edmund (in another case of tit for tat). Edward, Earl of March, York’s oldest son, has raised an army from the Welsh Marches and defeated the Lancastrians at Mortimer’s Cross. And now, both armies are in Yorkshire, near the village of Towton. It’s Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar, but there was nothing holy about what happened that day. No honor. No chivalry. Just bloody vengeance on both sides, a time to settle long-held grudges.

Fatal Colours is the story of failed leadership, and is very readable. In fact, there were times I found the creative half of my mind taking in some of the scenarios and imaging them written into some kind of story. I appreciated its insights into the major players, and how they are presented as people, each with their good points and their flaws, and not as stock characters out of a history play.

The book also includes a section on what happened to some of the major players after Towton, several well drawn family trees, end notes, places to visit, and an index. Highly recommended for those interested in the Wars of the Roses and the Battle of Towton.

[Alex Helling · Rating 3 out of 5]

The War of the Roses was a civil war between two branches of England’s ruling family in the 15th Century. The battle of Towton was “England’s most brutal battle”, as the cover to the book Fatal Colours by George Goodwin puts it and as such might be considered unfairly neglected worthy of greater attention than it gets. Fatal Colours as a book about the battle seeks to rectify this. It is also a book that explores the first part of the War of the Roses and how the politics and increasing polarisation, as well as the conditions on the ground, led to a battle of such carnage; about 28,000 dead, which could be up to half of the combatants.

As such an unusually horrific battle it feels like this book could have been just about the battle; a forensic look at it and how it was fought. Unfortunately the bit of the book on the battle itself is quite short, if you want to take the most minimal reading of just from start of fighting on the day of battle to the end of the pursuit just 10 pages. Even if the build up and immediate aftermath are included it is only one and a half chapters. This is a shame as a more detailed look at the battle could have been interesting, for example there are no quotes about the progress of the battle itself; it would have been interesting to read and then see how it fits with the on the ground analysis, but there may not be the primary accounts for it. There is more in terms of explanations about how battles were fought in the 15th century; the arms and armour used, how recruitment of armies occurred etc. This is all good and helpful.

However by far the vast majority of the book is on the history of the War of the Roses up to Towton - and as such goes back not just to the start of Henry VI’s reign but all the way back to the succession from Edward III so has a lot of ground to cover. I am not against a history of the War of the Roses but it is straying from what should be the raison d’etre of the book. The history is told quite well, but it is not in as much detail as would be really helpful if wanting a book on the development of the War of the Roses.

And if the book were to be about the Wars of the Roses then the end of the book is odd. It stops after Towton. We are told Edward IV is crowned in a single paragraph. Nothing on there being a later attempt to eject him. This phase of the Wars of the Roses was not over. It is a precipitate ending even when just considering the battle; we are barely told about the consequences. Perhaps this is because despite all the bloodshed it did not really finally resolve the issue, just reset it to the Yorkist side.

Some of the extras are pretty good; the maps of the battle itself are well worthwhile for helping the reader see what is happening in the battle itself alongside the text though we could do with one of the campaign as a whole. And for a confusing bit of history the family trees help.

Overall I feel this is a somewhat disappointing book - essentially by focusing too much on the events leading up to the war it feels a bit mis-sold as being about the battle.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoy reading history, military history doesn’t interest me at all. To be honest, when I picked it up I thought “Fatal Colours” was historical *fiction*, as a result of the title and the cover. But no, it’s a factual history of a specific battle in the Wars of the Roses of the mid-1400s in Britian. That said, the author gives compelling arguments for his interpretation of the battle of Towton in 1461, an engagement that’s been dubbed England’s “most brutal battle.” The reader is given a good grounding in the political, social and military realms of the time; most interesting to me was the interpretation of the behaviour of King Henry VI, suggesting with considerable evidence that he was schizophrenic and suffered a 17-month-long bout of catatonic schizophrenia in the mid 1450s. As a result of his illness, there was a vacancy in leadership, which is why the Lancaster and York families and retinues were able to explode their rivalry into, essentially, a civil war. I think people who like military history will find this quite interesting; after all, it got me interested and I have quite an aversion to reading about war! Recommended.

[Darrell Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had read a fair bit about the Wars of the Roses, but kinda had taken Henry VI a bit for granted as a simple weak ruler, exploited, manoeuvred and ultimately murdered by ambitious unscrupulous nobles. Similarly, although I had heard of Towton, the later reversals of the Yorkist cause meant it seldom received much of a spotlight. As you read about the slaughter and the way the battle unfurled it brings to life cleverly the horror of medieval combat. Linking schizophrenia with Henry’s personality, and his pious sanctity a coat of protection from reality was interesting and sad. A period of English history where no one looks very good and the decline from the glory days of Henry V is swift. You are left wondering how things would have turned out with a stronger monarch, how much less blood would have been spilled. An enjoyable read even if the topics covered do meander somewhat. Brutal and nasty - a battle deserving to be better commemorated.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

18-year old son got this book for Christmas. He started it but abandoned it because it was boring. I was dissappointed that he gave up so easily. So I picked it up and started to read. By gawd, he was right; it was deathly boring. I felt I could't give up after the lecture I had given him, so I stuck with it.

I was unfamiliar with this time period and the cast of characters, so I found it confusing. The actual battle is covered in the final 20 pages, the hundreds of pages previously are all the lead up and background information.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A so-so book this, clearly well researched but one might as well just read a biography of the Wars of the Roses itself. Yes the story culminates at Towton as planned but it’s difficult to write a book with a couple of hundred pages about the battle without basically providing a recap of everything that went before it in the context of the situation in England at the time.
Interested me as an ancestor of mine fought and died at the battle but I feel Towton packs more of a punch as part of a broader biography.

[Mmetevelis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this as it was written well. The organization was a little tough. One of the major events was narrated first. There are good battlefield and campaign maps but no maps of England or France (would have been helpful for US edition as I don't know the geography of the UK super well). The actual battle is treated mostly in the last few pages but the information leading up to it was interesting and engaging.

All and all, worth reading, but making me want to go a little deeper to keep all the facts and personalities straight.

[Debby Taylor-Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

For readers with good knowledge of the Wars this is perhaps not the book for you. A large amount is taken up explaining the build up and participants, and only a short amount on the battle itself. However, I give the book 5 stars because it takes no liberties (as far too many "historical" books do nowadays), and it is well written.
If you are curious about politics and players of the era with a leaning towards this battle in particular, this is certainly an informative book you will enjoy.

[V.E. Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive account of the battle of Towton in 1461, the bloodiest and perhaps most decisive battle fought on english soil and yet hardly remembered today. Goodwin presents the lead-up to Towton, and the Wars of the Roses itself, in a concise, accessible manner that makes a sometimes confused landscape of people, places and grievances easy to understand. Enthralling read.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book raises so many questions. First why was such an inept and ill King Henry VI allowed to rule? How did chivalry die so suddenly? How could one Englishman kill another Englishman in a violent savage manner? How the loss of French lands was so anticlimactic? I read it twice as there are so many similar names and it was hard to keep all the players straight. A pivotal period in history.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got half way through but even with the family tree I just couldn't differentiate between the characters. Not helped by different generations with the same titles, similar names etc. Not the fault of the author of course. I I found the most interesting part was around Henry VI and his mental state.

[Richard Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable account of the Battle of Towton and the events that lead up to it. These historical accounts can be by their nature very dry but although interspersed by scholarly excerpts from contemporary chroniclers, this narrative holds the interest as well as any work of fiction.

[Rob Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually very little of this book is about the battle itself. Rather it is the lead up and a review of the War of the Roses. This was a complex time of nobility maneuvering around a mentally ill King. It also shows the end of medieval chivalry, and the beginning of modern war.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWesome book

[Michael Gerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Games of Thrones. But the actual Wars of the Roses is even more gripping reading. Another of those internecine conflicts for the crown and throne of England.

[DEVIL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read it for a history essay - if I didn't have background knowledge on the topic then I would've been completely lost, but it was still a good read.

[Nigel Blease · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just an amazing book

[Sam Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have finally defeated my white whale. Read it if you love medieval history and have a great memory for names, maybe not so much otherwise. Interesting but challenging.

[H. P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up to 75,000 men fought and as many as 28,000 died at Towton, the battle that ended the first War of the Roses between the Yorkists and Lancastrians. By comparison, no more than 45,000 men (probably far fewer) fought at Agincourt and less than 10,000 died. By the highest estimate, one-tenth of all male Englishmen and Welshmen between the ages of 16 and 60 were on the battlefield at Towton that day. Of 68 members of the peerage, 53 or 54 fought there. It may have seen the first use of composite lead shot in a European battle. Chancellor George Neville claimed so many were slain that “dead bodies were seen as to cover an area six miles long by three broad and about four furlongs.” The battle at Towton may not be as famed as that at Agincourt, but Goodwin makes a persuasive case for its preeminent importance in English history.

Fatal Colours is a book about a single battle, but Goodwin takes great effort to put it in its broader context. Not only of the War of the Roses, but also the evolution of the English system of governance and military evolution are addressed. The names tend to bleed together (Goodwin does provide a helpful “cast of characters”), but Goodwin relays a short history of the first War of the Roses adequate to provide proper perspective to someone who knows as little about English history as I. I suspect the focus of Fatal Colours on Towton rather than the ultimate result of a Tudor dynasty gives it a different cast than other histories of the Wars of the Roses. Goodwin doesn’t necessarily see Towton as a turning point in English history, but he does see it as a lens through which we can understand much about English history.

Towton occurred in the middle of a rapid evolution from a medieval England to a modern one. The Plague had destroyed the old system of feudalism and radically increased per capita wealth. The longbow and plate armor made battle an infantry affair again and changed weaponry. Chivalry was dead as a battlefield code among knights (this was to have fatal consequences at Towton). Goodwin’s discussion of military evolution is particularly enlightening. The longbow that won victories at Crecy and Agincourt made horses a liability in battle and drove development of full plate. Plate armor led to narrower swords and poleaxes designed to puncture plate armor.

Goodwin sees the War of the Roses as the result of a particular failure of a monarchy that relied upon the belief the king’s authority was divine. With a “vain, inane, and insane” king (we now believe Henry VI suffered from schizophrenia) who would not and could not rule, the government could not operate but most nobles would not act against a king not attacking their prerogatives.

The Yorkists were never able to gain the full support of the nobility (31 of the 53 or 54 members of the peerage that fought at Towton fought for the Lancastrians), but Goodwin shows missteps by the Lancastrians led the wealthy merchant class of London and Calais to finance the Yorkists.

On the day of the battle, the Lancastrians had the advantage of numbers and held the higher ground, but the weather led to their defeat. A driving wind forced sleet into the eyes of the Lancastrian longbowmen and caused their arrows to fall short despite their advantage in elevation. Thus were 20,000 Yorkists, with the timely arrival of another 5,000 reserves, able to defeat 30,000 or more Lancastrians. Handgunners were present but ineffective, and there was no field artillery. Archers forced the Lancastrians to fatally abandon the high ground, infantry did the heavy fighting, and cavalry turned the rout into a slaughter. And slaughter it was. A cycle of ever increasing violence over the past decade and propaganda leveraging the increasingly regional composition of the forces ensured no quarter would be given (Goodwin devotes considerable attention to showing the development of both).

Goodwin is clearly and unapologetically anglophile. I think he mentions it frequently enough to say with some confidence that he believes Henry V was the greatest English king. But Goodwin also makes frequent mention of disagreements amongst historians and the evolution of our thinking on various events covered, albeit without being afraid to make his own conclusions. His prose is clear and compelling, and he effortlessly blends salacious details with big picture theorizing. An incredible amount of history is squeezed into relatively few pages without loss of the essential. Unfortunately, somewhere in giving all that context, Goodwin forgets he’s writing a book about a single battle. Only 1/6 of the main text covers the battle itself.

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nasty "scuffle" in the streets of St Albans was the day chivalry died and a bloody vendetta arose; the Wars of the Roses. As a lad from Oldham one would expect my loyalties to be with the red rose of Lancaster - after all, isn't there still a "friendly" rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire? But the truth is that it wasn't an East-West rivalry but North-South. Now there's a more ancient rivalry (and the house of Lancaster was the North!).
The causes of the Wars themselves lie in the establishment of a weak child king, Henry VI, on the throne and a struggle by various members of the higher nobility to be at the centre of power. Military disaster in France, the subsequent economic downturn, and corruption in the court, led to general unrest and Cade's Rebellion. Although it was put down, the weakness of the king meant a power vacuum existed that required filling.
Goodwin spends some time looking at Henry's inability to rule and believes its origins may well lie in schizophrenia. Certainly many of his subjects viewed him as a weak and incapable monarch. The lack of central power meant that the vast numbers of men raised and maintained by the great lords were no longer at the disposal of the King but were in the hands of ambitious, jealous, competitive men - and the consequences would be dire. Local disputes between these lords descended into banditry and open warfare, and the contestants began to align themselves with York and Somerset (the Lancastrian leader).
After the first battle of St Ablans the vengeful nature of the fighting saw the "democratisation" of warfare so that, by the time of Towton, there was no cushion of safety for the nobility; death became an equal risk for both lord and common footsoldier - "the deal was to profit by the death of one's aristocratic competitor" and not via ransom.
And so we come to Towton, the climax of the first War. One in ten of all men capable of fighting fought at Towton - it was the first example of mass conscription. As many men died at Towton as in the first day of the battle of the Somme (at a time when the overall population was greatly smaller). It was the longest and bloodiest battle in English history and the hatred between North and South (they ate different food, spoke differently, they were alien to each other) erupted into a frenzy as hundreds of prisoners were murdered afterwards, making it the most brutal also.
Goodwin does an excellent job of unweaving a complex history. His description of warfare and battle are short but clinical. I read this book with a hunger and leave it with an even greater desire to research the period in more detail. I can think of no greater accolade.