Blood Royal: The Wars of the Roses 1462–1485

Bicheno wraps up the Plantagenet saga in this companion to Battle Royal, highlighting the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III and foreshadowing the rise of Henry Tudor. He deftly describes how just a few generations of familial politics among the Yorkists, Lancastrians, and Nevilles resulted in bloodshed, all while the antagonists were egged on by their mothers. Both monarchs receive credit for leadership (in battle and as a statesman of the north, respectively), but the blunders that hastened their dynastic end are unsentimentally detailed. Bicheno makes his anti-Ricardian stance clear, but he also doesn’t really like Richard’s relatives, calling them “psychopaths” without delving into how their often brutal actions fit within the era of Florence’s Medicis and the Spanish Inquisition. The famous Warwick claim that Edward was the product of a well-known maternal affair repeatedly appears in the text, but the intentional lack of specific primary source citations stunts its effectiveness. Clear maps and detailed backgrounds create lively battlefield descriptions, and multiple relevant appendices clarify the roles of key figures and families. Bicheno provides a broad look into the mythologized world behind the archetypal strong, handsome king and the rot that invited power struggles and ruin. (June)