The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Wars of the Roses is a continuation of the authors previous work “The Plantagenets.” In this volume we trace the story of the Plantagenet dynasty from the deposition of Richard II in 1399 to the death of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and beyond that to the reign of Henry VII and the advent of the Tudor dynasty. Both the Lancastrian and Yorkist kings were Plantagenets; the two branches of the family traced their ancestry back to different sons of Edward III. When Henry IV deposed his cousin Richard II and brought the Lancastrians to power, the potential was created for a civil war because Henry did not necessarily have the best claim to the throne. The potential was realized in the reign of his grandson Henry VI who as the author points out was not capable of ruling the kingdom or of choosing advisers to rule it for him. The reign of this weak king opened the door to civil war, the rule of the three Yorkist kings and eventually Henry Tudor.
The author does a good job of discussing the triumphs of the Lancastrian and Yorkist kings as well as their disasters. His narrative is easy to follow. Most histories of this period end with the death of Richard III, but the author takes us through the reign of Henry VII and Henry VIII as well. I thought this was a little unusual, but it provides a nice balance to the story. The author is also pretty even handed in terms of York and Lancaster, so there is no obvious bias, and he has made use of the recent findings concerning Richard III. The one thing that is missing, in my opinion, is the story of Henry IV. His usurpation of the throne in 1399 sets the whole story in motion, but his rule is not discussed in any detail.