The Wars of the Roses

by Elizabeth Hallam (Editor)

s/t: From Richard 2 to the Fall of Richard 3 at Bosworth Field-Seen Through the
Lavishly illustrated with over 230 illustrations in color and black and white, this book tells the story of the last hundred years of the dynasty founded by Henry II in 1154. It begins in 1377 with the accession to the throne of Richard II and ends in 1485 with the death on Bosworth Field of the enigmatic Richard Ill.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, War, Biography, Medieval, Medieval History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[John Isles · Rating 5 out of 5]

In parallel with Shakespeare's cycle of English history plays I've been reading several books about the period, including this coffee-table-size volume from a series edited by Elizabeth Hallam, giving modernized texts or translations of contemporary histories, usually with well-illustrated essays on the facing pages filling in details of the events and trends of the time. The period covered, the last century of the Plantagenet kings, includes the closing events of the Hundred Years War between England and France, as well as the rivalry for the throne between the Houses of York and Lancaster since called the Wars of the Roses. Published in 1997, the book is a bit out of date, especially on Richard III, whose body has been found, showing that he did indeed have a markedly deformed spine, and his death in the Battle of Bosworth, whose site has since apparently been more securely identified. But it succeeds in bringing the events and personalities to life, and incidentally in setting straight some of the liberties taken in Shakespeare's version. This astronomer has to point out that the instruments depicted on pages 248 and 251 are armillary spheres, not astrolabes.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third volume in the series, which covers the period from the unlucky Richard II, successor to Edward III, through the dynastic civil wars between the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions of the Plantagenet family, to the final defeat of the Angevin line at Bosworth. The quality of the selected contemporary observations is very high, as are also the mini-essays on such topics as the Maid of Orléans, the Bohemian revolution, England’s increasing involvement in the affairs of Ireland, the rise of the new universities, and (one of my favorite personalities of the period) Louis XI of France — the "universal spider." In all three volumes, genealogy plays a significant role, explaining why relations between England and France, England and Scotland, and France and Burgundy were so often based on family connections. A number of high families closely allied with, or in conflict with, the monarchy are also considered at length, including Despenser, Neville, Beaufort, Woodville, Mortimer, Montfort, Comyn, Balliol, Bruce, and Stewart.

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really impressed by this book. What I thought was a basic coffee table book (something along the lines of "The Big Book of the Wars of the Roses") was actually well-researched and impressively comprehensive (especially considering that it's only 320 pages - including the index. The general layout is the left facing pages are accounts from various contemporary (or near contemporary) histories, adjusted for spelling and grammar, with the right facing page accounts of the same events by modern historians. The right pages also include sidebars on biography, religion, art and architecture, industry and trade, fashion and music, as well as events occurring elsewhere in the world at the same time. In addition, the book is lavishly illustrated. My only complaint is that the period accounts break (often in mid-sentence) while the modern accounts do not; this makes for distracting reading (or alternately, a lot of back and forth page flipping). Strong 4 stars.

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

The War of the Roses is a nonfiction book by Elizabeth Hallam. We read through the reigns of Richard II to Richard III. There are pages that are written by people who were around at the time of the reigning monarch and then pages that describe what life was like at this time for royals and common folk.
The format of this work is easy to read, but so much information may be dense for someone who is not very familiar with the times that this book is set around. I very much enjoyed that this book showed the average life and not just what the kings and queens were doing in political battles or the battlefield itself.

[Tristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing and gorgeous images but the history is DENSE. You have to be really passionate about this time period in European history to get through this. I did really enjoyed the more mundane chapters about what every day life was like in this time period, but I really could not get into the intense details of who captained what ground troops in which land war. I also never knew the origin of the "Wars of the Roses," so that was fascinating to learn.

[Lezley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book as a highly readable overview of the Wars of the Roses. It has lots of information and illustrations covering this era. It is narrated by people who were "on the scene" and these narrations are interspersed with really interesting facts and stories.