The Last White Rose
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
One of the most dramatic periods of British history, the Wars of the Roses didn't end at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Despite the death of Richard III and Henry VII's victory, it continued underground into the following century with plots, pretenders and subterfuge by the ousted white rose faction. In a brand new interpretation of this turning point in history, well known historian Desmond Seward reviews the story of the Tudors' seizure of the throne and shows that for many years they were far from secure. He challenges the way we look at the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, explaining why there were so many Yorkist pretenders and conspiracies, and why the new dynasty had such difficulty establishing itself. King Richard's nephews, the Earl of Warwick and the little known de la Pole brothers, all had support of enemies overseas, while England was split when the lowly Perkin Warbeck skilfully impersonated one of the princes in the tower in order to claim the right to the throne. Warwick's surviving sister Margaret also became the focus of hopes that the White Rose would be reborn. The book also offers a new perspective on why Henry VIII, constantly threatened by treachery, real or imagined, and desperate to secure his power with a male heir, became a tyrant.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British historian Seward's long-awaited sequel to his critically acclaimed 1995 history of late medieval England, The Wars of the Roses and the Lives of Five Men and Women in the Fifteenth Century, is an intriguing addition to the growing body of revisionist Tudor history. Contrary to popular belief, the Wars of the Roses did not end after Henry Tudor defeated Richard III in 1485 and unified the Houses of York and Plantagenet by marrying Elizabeth of York. Seward argues that there was great insecurity, fear, and even paranoia behind the Tudor fa ade of stability, magnificence, and power. Throughout their reigns, both Henry VII and Henry VIII had to contend regularly with rebellions, conspiracies, and plots hatched both internally and abroad by those who sought to rid England of a dynasty that so many regarded as having little or no legitimate claim to the throne. The policy of both monarchs to neutralize pretenders and rival claimants to the throne by imprisonment or other means increasingly became one of elimination on the slightest pretext, including, in Henry VIII's later years, the execution of the elderly Margaret of Salisbury, for the crime of being the last White Rose. Seward delivers a scholarly yet engaging account of an era that continues to fascinate.
