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Title: Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir ISBN: 0-345-40433-5 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 25 June, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 (32 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great reading but end too quickly...
Comment: I can say nothing but huge amount of praises for Allison Weir's War of the Roses. Its superbly readable, entertainingly fun and quite educational. But why would an author of her scholarship end the account of the War of the Roses at Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471? This is supposed to be a book on the War of the Roses, right? Its like writing a book on World War II and ending it at Stalingrad and Fall of Tunis in first half of 1943!! I read Weir's Princes in the Tower and that book is more like an investigation of their death and the blame. War of the Roses stuff were basically background material. So it can't be considered as "second volume" of this book. Since anyone who knows anything about War of Roses knows that the war "officially" ended with Battle of Bosworth in 1485 which saw the fall of Richard Plantagent to Henry Tudor which resulted in the total change of the royal line (even if they are all related in one ways or another), this book should have gone on that point. Weir probably thought that after Tewkesbury, there wasn't much going on military wise for 14 years until Bosworth but politics can be considered as a form of warfare back then and there were a lot of that going on to make War of the Roses one of the more interesting military conflicts in history. But until she stopped, Weir does a very good job and maybe, she can write a real "second volume" of this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Clear, readable, and well-narrated
Comment: The Wars of the Roses are one of the most confusing periods of English history. From the origins in the rivalries between Edward III's children to the final resolution with the founding of the Tudor dynasty by Henry VII, there are eight kings, including some of the best and worst England has had; and literally scores of major figures and families: the Nevilles, the Percys, the Woodvilles, the Beauforts, the Cliffords, the Bourchiers -- the list is endless.
Making this all comprehensible the first time through is simply impossible. Weir almost manages it, though; her style is very readable and friendly, and exciting without being sensational. Weir begins with a short section describing what England was like in the fifteenth century; then she starts the story proper with Edward III, whose five sons and their families are the central players in the history.
She ends her story in 1471, with the defeat of the Lancastrians and the subsequent murder of Henry VI. She only gives a page or two to the remainder of Edward IV's reign, and to the story of Richard III and the princes in the tower, and Henry VII's ultimate accession in 1485. This is almost certainly because she has covered this ground in another book, "The Princes In The Tower". The omission is understandable but still rather a mistake -- the conflict doesn't end till the Tudors are on the throne (and not even then, really -- there were pretenders for years).
The only other criticism I have is that the genealogy tables at the back are too small to read easily. I tried using a magnifying glass but the reproduction is poor enough that some letters are blurred into unreadability. Even when it's readable, it's more work than it should be; this is a real problem for a book about the Wars of the Roses, where understanding the genealogy is crucial to keeping your bearings.
Overall I can recommend this strongly, just because it'll give you the overall narrative clearly and excitingly, but you'll need another source to cover the period from 1471 to 1485.
Rating: 5
Summary: Keep those geneology tables handy...
Comment: This is an excellent well organized book. Weir does an wonderful job with the subject of a complex family tree and lots of interfamily marriages. I don't know of many historians that could do this well. She covers the English history from Richard II to Edward IV.
I recommend to all Medieval English history lovers.
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Title: Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345391780 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 10 July, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Eleanor of Aquitaine : A Life by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345434870 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345425502 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 05 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345407865 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 08 July, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir ISBN: 0802136834 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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