by Michael Hicks (Author)
The Wars of the Roses (1455-85) were a major turning point in English history. But the underlying causes for the successive upheavals have been hotly contested by historians ever since. In this original and stimulating new synthesis, distinguished historian Michael Hicks examines the difficult economic, military, and financial crises and explains, for the first time, the real reasons why the Wars of the Roses began, why they kept recurring, and why, eventually, they ceased. Alongside fresh assessments of key personalities, Hicks sheds new light on the significance of the involvement of the people in politics, the intervention of foreign powers in English affairs, and a fifteenth-century credit crunch. Combining a meticulous dissection of competing dynamics with a clear account of the course of events, this is a definitive and indispensable history of a compelling, complex period.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 03 Feb 2012
ISBN 10: 0300181574
ISBN 13: 9780300181579
A well-judged, vigorous and vivid account of England's fifteenth-century civil war, The Wars of the Roses interweaves a strong narrative thread with important analysis to explain the issues on which England's rulers and their rivals vied so often, and with such brutal consequences, between 1450 and 1485. For anyone interested in the personalities and controversies that surrounded the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII, The Wars of the Roses will make vital and compulsive reading. - Mark Ormrod, author of Political Life in Medieval England
-- Mark Ormrod