Battle Royal

by Hugh Bicheno

Overview

England, 1454: King Henry VI, having struggled for a decade to contain the violent feuding of his dukes, is losing his mind. Disgruntled nobles support the regal claims of Richard, Duke of York, great-grandson of Edward III. The stage is set for civil war.The first volume of an enthralling two-part history of the dynastic wars fought between the houses of Lancaster and York, Battle Royal traces the conflict from its roots in the 1440s to the early 1460s—a period marked by the rise and fall of Richard of York, the deposition of Henry VI following the Lancastrian defeat at Towton, and the subsequent seizure of his throne by Richard's son Edward.Charting a clear course through the dynastic complexities of fifteenth-century power politics, and offering crisply authoritative analysis of the key battles of the Wars of the Roses, Battle Royal is a dynamic and rigorously researched account of England's longest and bloodiest civil war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681773711
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	01/10/2017
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Hugh Bicheno graduated from Cambridge and later joined the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). He is the author of the previous books Crescent and Cross: The Battle of Lepanto, Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War, and Elizabeth's Sea Dogs, but this is his first book to be published in America. He lives in England.

Table of Contents

List of Maps 1-27 ix

List of Tables and Family Trees x

Protagonists and Marriages xi

Maps 1-5 xxii

Princes of the Blood Family Tree xxviii

Preface xxxi

Prologue Passionate Princesses 1

I House of Lancaster 12

II House of Beaufort 24

III House of Valois-Anjou 36

IV House of York 46

V Faction and Feud 59

VII Defeat and Humiliation 68

VII Henry and Richard 79

VIII House of Neville 89

IX Marguerite 102

X Mitre and Crown 111

XI Richard 121

XII Henry 131

XIII Coup d'état 144

XIV Marguerite's Counter-coup 151

XV Lord of Calais 161

XVI Here be Dragons 173

XVII Marguerite and Henry 184

Entr'acte The English Way of War 194

XVTII Marguerite's Army 199

XIX Lancaster Resurgent 210

XX Warwick's Apotheosis 221

XXI Betrayal 231

XXII Marguerite and Son 242

XXIII Richard's Humiliation 250

XXIV Edward of March 261

XXV The Bubble Reputation 272

XXVI Two Kings 283

XXVII Knights Gambit 292

XXVIII Endgame 302

Coda Checkmate 313

Appendix A English Peerage 1440-62, by date of creation 322

Appendix B English Peerage 1440-62, alphabetical 330

Appendix C Archbishops and Bishops 1440-62 338

Appendix D Beauchamp Inheritance 340

Works Consulted 343

Acknowledgements 353

Image Credits 354

Index 357

Editorial Reviews

Compellingly told, this book brings late medieval England thrillingly back to life in such gory detail you can almost smell the blood and muck.

History of War

Thoroughly accessible to historians and lay readers alike. A superb reference and resource, highly recommended for public and college library collections as well as for personal reading lists and self-study.

Midwest Book Review