Few English monarchs had to fight harder for the right to rule than King Edward IV - Shakespeare's glorious son of York. Cast in the Plantagenet mould, over six feet tall, he was a naturally charismatic leader. Edward had the knack of seizing the initiative and winning battles and is free from the unflattering characterisations that plagued his brother, Richard III, having been portrayed as a good-looking and formidable military tactician. Described sometimes as reckless and profligate, all sources remark on his personal bravery. In the eleven years between 1460 and 1471 he fought five major battles in the Wars of the Roses. Three of them - Towton, Barnet and Tewkesbury - rank among the most decisive of the medieval period.
This book covers Edward's family background, the Yorkist takeover and the drift to war. It charts the tensions created by the controversial Woodville marriage and Edward's deposition by the Earl of Warwick and subsequent exile. The return of the king brought with it more battles and Edward's decisive campaigns against Warwick and Margaret of Anjou. Finally, Edward's sudden death heralded the demise of the House of York and the eventual triumph of the Tudors.
This is the history of Edward IV's struggle to gain -and regain - the crown during a period of sustained dynastic turmoil.
- ISBN10 1445660253
- ISBN13 9781445660257
- Publish Date 15 September 2017 (first published 15 September 2015)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Amberley Publishing
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 288
- Language English