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The Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
14 posts | 20 read | 36 to read
Lancaster and York. For much of the fifteenth century, these two families were locked in battle for control of the British monarchy. Kings were murdered and deposed. Armies marched on London. Old noble names were ruined while rising dynasties seized power and lands. The war between the royal House of Lancaster and York, the longest and most complex in British history, profoundly altered the course of the monarchy. In The Wars of the Roses, Alison Weir reconstructs this conflict with the same dramatic flair and impeccable research that she brought to her highly praised The Princes in the Tower. The first battle erupted in 1455, but the roots of the conflict reached back to the dawn of the fifteenth century, when the corrupt, hedonistic Richard II was sadistically murdered, and Henry IV, the first Lancastrian king, seized England's throne. Both Henry IV and his son, the cold warrior Henry V, ruled England ably, if not always wisely--but Henry VI proved a disaster, both for his dynasty and his kingdom. Only nine months old when his father's sudden death made him king, Henry VI became a tormented and pathetic figure, weak, sexually inept, and prey to fits of insanity. The factional fighting that plagued his reign escalated into bloody war when Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, laid claim to the throne that was rightfully his--and backed up his claim with armed might. Alison Weir brings brilliantly to life both the war itself and the historic figures who fought it on the great stage of England. Here are the queens who changed history through their actions--the chic, unconventional Katherine of Valois, Henry V's queen; the ruthless, social-climbing Elizabeth Wydville; and, most crucially, Margaret of Anjou, a far tougher and more powerful character than her husband,, Henry VI, and a central figure in the Wars of the Roses. Here, too, are the nobles who carried the conflict down through the generations--the Beauforts, the bastard descendants of John of Gaunt, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known to his contemporaries as "the Kingmaker"; and the Yorkist King, Edward IV, a ruthless charmer who pledged his life to cause the downfall of the House of Lancaster. The Wars of the Roses is history at its very best--swift and compelling, rich in character, pageantry, and drama, and vivid in its re-creation of an astonishing, dangerous, and often grim period of history. Alison Weir, one of the foremost authorities on the British royal family, demonstrates here that she is also one of the most dazzling stylists writing history today. From the Hardcover edition.
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Lauraandherbooks
Lauraandherbooks
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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My book is in from eBay!! Can‘t wait to start reading it!!

26 likes
review
Mtroiano
Mtroiano
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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Pickpick

Alison Weir knows how to write nonfiction in a way that is easy to read. If you‘re interested in this period of history, I would definitely recommend this one!

21 likes1 stack add
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arlenefinnigan
arlenefinnigan
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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#TwoTribes #RedRoseSeptember
Sorry @squirrelbrain couldn't resist 😉🌹
@Cinfhen

LeahBergen Good one! 👏🏻👏🏻 5y
Cinfhen Perfect 🙌🏻 5y
TrishB 😂😂 5y
squirrelbrain No offence taken...(not much anyway!) 🤣 5y
40 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
Joriebooks
Joriebooks
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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New books for Mother‘s Day means I got to start a new books. Seams fitting that I‘m currently reading A Game of Thrones and The Wars of the Roses (the power struggles George RR Martian took inspiration from) #history 📚🤓

49 likes3 stack adds
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Joriebooks
Joriebooks
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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My kid(really husband) knows me well. My Mother‘s Day gifts today are all about a time period I‘ve been wanting to learn more about. Plus Alison Weir is my favorite historian.
Happy Mother‘s Day! #history 📚🤓👩‍👧

TrishB The Sunne in Splendour is amazing 😁 6y
Deblovestoread I second @TrishB I ❤️ The Sunne in Splendour! 6y
LeahBergen I third @TrishB and @Kdgordon88 ! 😆 6y
49 likes3 comments
review
Gezemice
Gezemice
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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Pickpick

The Wars of the Roses is the greatest entertainment for a medieval history lover: dynastic intrigue, complicated genealogies, bloody battles, rival kings, formidable queens, mighty lords in constantly changing alliances provide an exciting story with fascinating characters. This would make a great TV series, and has obviously inspired Game of Thrones (Lancaster and York...)

This was simply exciting to read, and I was rooting for York. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gezemice Full review with summary: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50953968 6y
Texreader Great review 6y
Gezemice @Texreader Thank you! 6y
See All 16 Comments
Dragon 👍😀🐉 Allison Weir writes great books! 6y
GingerAntics This book is still on my wish list, and I got another book on the war of the roses so we can compare notes. That‘s my next nonfiction to start. 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics That would be awesome! I am onto The Princes in the Tower, which is the conclusion to the story. 6y
Gezemice @Dragon I am a huge fan of her nonfiction, but her fiction is not for me. 6y
GingerAntics Oh I‘ve always wanted to know more about that whole incident. Just added it to my wish list. This is happening!!! I think I need to read them in order, though. 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics It is a much shorter book and she wrote it first, so it does not need to be in order. It is a lot less dense since it is a more linear story and shorter time period. I have read it but forgot it so I know it is an easy read while Wars of the Roses is not. 6y
GingerAntics Oh, that definitely needs to happen then. Good to know. Sadly, my library has neither of her books, so I‘m going to have to wait until I get paid again to get them. 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics Oh no! can you get an interlibrary loan? 6y
GingerAntics I haven‘t looked into one. I need to check the library at work, then it becomes if any libraries in the state have it. I‘ve found in the past that anything dealing with the U.K. just isn‘t happening here, as a general rule. No idea why. 6y
Dragon Agreed I can‘t read her nonfiction books. 😀🐉 6y
Gezemice @Dragon Haha! I tried, too. Nope. 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics My library has all of Weir‘s work. And a ton of English history. I live in a small town but it is a college town... and the library is popular. 6y
GingerAntics We have several colleges in the area. No idea why the public libraries have such limited options. The college libraries are much better stocked, but sadly you can‘t check books out unless you‘re a student or an employee. 6y
63 likes1 stack add16 comments
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Gezemice
Gezemice
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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1. All genres! I love variety, but my most read genres are fantasy, classics, sci-fi and non-fiction, especially history.
2. Terry Pratchett!!
3. It changes. Today it is Daisy Jones and The Six, but often Song of Achilles, I,Claudius, The Handmaid‘s Tale, and anything Terry Pratchett.
4. I try anything once, but I do avoid romance, horror and westerns (although some books I loved were horror, or had romance in them).
5. ✔️
#hellothursday

tagged users iconwanderinglynn
wanderinglynn Terry Pratchett! 🙌🏻 Thanks for playing! 📚 6y
53 likes1 comment
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Gezemice
Gezemice
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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Inspired by King Henry IV of #shakespearereadalong, I am re-reading an old favorite about the Wars of the Roses.
My roses are a bit sad at the idea.

That‘s Lancaster and York for you, Lannister and Stark fans. 😉

I love that Alison Weir starts with how people lived in the fifteenth century in England, and not with the great families and battles. She writes about people, which makes me love her history so much.

GingerAntics Definitely need to read this. 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics I thought you said you are not a fan of medieval history? It does have a lot of battles, too, and tons of complicated blood lines. I do enjoy that, though :) 6y
GingerAntics I‘m not a fan of military history. I don‘t like all the battles and macho bs, personally. Military history, to me, is just all the evidence that men haven‘t changed in centuries. I feel like I would understand the history plays more by reading either this one or Dan Jones‘s
[tagged book]Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors
6y
GingerAntics I‘m more interested in the bloodlines than the battles, but it‘s hard to separate those two things. I may need to reread
[tagged book]Shakespeare's Kings: The Great Plays and the History of England in the Middle Ages: 1337-1485
(edited) 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics Shakespeare‘s Kings looks interesting. I have tried Dan Jones once but I felt after Alison Weir that he was too much of the male oriented history writing, i.e. battles and dates. I like Weir‘s emphasis on personalities and contemporary life and thinking. 6y
77 likes2 stack adds5 comments
blurb
Mtroiano
Mtroiano
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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Not exactly loving but it fits the #roses prompt!
#literarylove

tagged users iconvkois88, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
TrishB I‘m not a Weir fan. 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🌹🌹 6y
vkois88 Her books are so hit or miss for me. I've started a few and DNF'd them. I remember there were one or two I liked, but I couldn't tell you which to save my life 6y
22 likes3 comments
blurb
Shonab
Shonab
Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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My Wars of the Roses obsession continues. Really enjoying this, especially after finishing Conn Iggulden's series on the period. #alisonweir #warsoftheroses #lunchtimeread

1 like
blurb
Simona
Simona
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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Deadly #kissfromarose
Nonfiction book about the clash between two families for the throne in England.

#lyricalapril

tagged users iconCinfhen
Cinfhen Gorgeous photo, excellent choice 😍 8y
Simona @Cinfhen Thanks 😊 8y
rubyslippersreads Great choice! 8y
Simona @rubyslippersreads Thank you 😊 8y
60 likes2 stack adds4 comments
review
shortsarahrose
shortsarahrose
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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Pickpick

History is one of my favorite subjects, and this was a topic that I haven't really read about previously. It covers the events that precipitated the Wars of the Roses through the confrontations between the houses of Lancaster and York (you will have to look elsewhere if you want to read about the rise of the Tudors). Very accessible, and once you get who's who, it is really engaging.

1 like
blurb
shortsarahrose
shortsarahrose
The Wars of the Roses | Alison Weir
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Richard II looks none too happy.

3 likes1 stack add