Frequently remembered as a period of military history which both saw the French beat the English and then the English fight amongst themselves, traditional military historians have tended to pass over the period hastily, regarding it as an episode that wrecked England's military greatness. John Gillingham's highly readable history separates the myth from the reality. He argues that, paradoxically, the Wars of the Roses demonstrate how peaceful England in fact was. From the accession of the infant Henry VI to the thrones of England and France in 1422 to the accession of Henry VII following the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Gillingham uses his gift for graphic description (particularly with his exciting account of the 1471 campaign) to great effect. He is also good at placing the warfare within its European context, especially in showing the problems encountered in conducting a civil war within a normally peaceful country.
- ISBN10 1842122746
- ISBN13 9781842122747
- Publish Date 18 January 2001 (first published 17 September 1981)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 24 November 2006
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Orion Publishing Co
- Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson History
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 288
- Language English