Tewkesbury 1471: The last Yorkist victory

Osprey Campaign #131

by Christopher Gravett, Graham Turner (Illustrator)

In this book Christopher Gravett details the climactic events of 1471 and the battle that virtually extinguished the Lancastrian cause. After the crushing Yorkist victory at Towton in 1461, King Edward IV appeared to have triumphed in England's bloody Wars of the Roses (1455-1485). The Lancastrian King Henry VI was even a prisoner in the Tower of London. By 1470, however, Edward's erstwhile ally the Earl of Warwick – The 'Kingmaker' – had joined the Lancastrians and a final reckoning was inevitable. Warwick perished at Barnet in April 1471, and on 4 May Edward confronted his enemies, including Edward, Prince and last hope of the House of Lancaster, at Tewkesbury.

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

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2003

About the author

Chris Gravett is a former Senior Curator at the Royal Armouries, Tower of London, and a recognized authority on the arms, armour, and warfare of the medieval world. He has worked as an advisor for numerous TV and film productions, and has written many books. He currently works as a curator at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire.

Reviews

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Osprey entry into a battle I've had the pleasure to re-enact at. Writing a short story about this battle so this is all part of research, and such fun too!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good effort to get everything we actually know about this battle and the events leading up to it, in one place. A short book, because we don't actually know all that much. Once again, the written records only concern the 'nobility' who bungled the battle, got killed or were executed afterwards.

Lots of pictures of period arms and armor, as well as the modern settings of where we think the battle was fought. So a lot of 'maybe' and 'this is likely to have happened'.