1st Edition

The Red Rose and the White The Wars of the Roses, 1453-1487

By John Sadler Copyright 2010
    360 Pages
    by Routledge

    360 Pages
    by Routledge

    If Richard III had not charged to his death at Bosworth, how different might the history of Britain have been?

    Beginning in 1453 and ending in 1487, The Red Rose and the White provides a gripping overview of the bitter dynastic struggle for supremacy that raged between the houses of York and Lancaster for thirty years, culminating in the dramatic events on Bosworth Field in 1485.

    As well as offering a comprehensive account of the campaigns, battles and sieges of the conflict, the book also assesses the commanders and men involved and considers the weapons and tactics employed. Photographs, maps and portraits of the principal characters help to bring the period to life, whilst the fast-paced narrative conveys a sense of what it was actually like to fight in battles such as Towton or Tewkesbury the effect of the arrow storm and the grim realities of hand-to-hand combat with edged and bladed weapons.

    Skilfully weaving in political and social events to place the conflict in its context, The Red Rose and the White is a fascinating exploration of the turbulent period that would change the course of British history forever.

    Being Introductory 1. The Art of War in the Fifteenth Century 2. The Nature of Kingship and the House of Lancaster 3. The Path to Conflict 1453 – 1455 4. First Blood – 1st St. Albans 22nd May 1455 5. Blore Heath 23rd September1459 and the Rout of Ludford Bridge 12/13th October, 1459. 6. Northampton10th July 1460 and Wakefield 30th December 1460 7. Mortimer’s Cross 2nd February 1461; 2nd St. Albans 17th February 1461 8. ‘Palmsunday Field’ – Towton  29th March 1461 9. War in the North 1461 – 1463 10. Hedgeley Moor 25th April 1464 and Hexham 14th May 1464 11. The Overmighty Subject – Warwick the Kingmaker 1464 – 1469; the Battles of Edgcote (26th July 1469) and Empingham (12th March 1470) 12. The Road to Barnet 14th April 1471 13. Tewkesbury4th May 1471 14. ‘This Sunne of York’ – the Yorkist Age 1471 – 1483 15. ‘Under the Hog’ Richard III and Bosworth 22nd August 1485 16. Stoke Field 16th June 1487. 17. The Military Legacy

    Biography

    John Sadler is the author of Border Fury: England and Scotland at War, 1296-1603 (Longman, 2006) and Scottish Battles (2003). He has for some several years been employed as a lecturer on medieval and military history at the Continuing Education Centre of Newcastle and Sunderland Universities.