I have mentioned a few times that the Wars of the Roses are not my favorite subject. For some reason they have never caught my imagination the same way the Crusades or the Hundred Years War have. However, I was really impressed with David Grummitt’s biography of Henry VI, which I read last year, and seeing as the Wars of the Roses are intertwined to some degree with the end of the Hundred Years War I figured I should read a little more about them. I was also previously impressed with the A Short History of the Hundred Years War by Michael Prestwich, which was part of this same series, so this seemed like a great place to brush up on the subject.
One problem I’ve long had when trying to read about the Wars of the Roses is that it often feels like the histories are written by and for people who have had a private education in one of England’s posher schools. The authors assume a familiarity with the English nobility that I just do not have. It doesn’t help that the Wars of the Roses are naturally confusing - there are a lot of people involved and many of them die only to be replaced by more nearly identical English nobles you have to remember. It’s a lot to keep track of and if the writer doesn’t help you it can make for a confusing and tedious read. I bring this up because Grummitt does a great job at making the Wars of the Roses more approachable - in fact one of his stated purposes in the book is writing something that can be read by people who aren’t familiar with the war already. He mentions that it has been dropped from many school curriculums in Britain and you can’t assume that readers have a basic literacy in its key events and players.
Another element that I really appreciate is that Grummitt draws the war back to its origins in 1399 with the deposition of Richard II by his cousin Henry IV. Maybe it’s just because I find this period of history far more interesting, but in general I love when histories trace a line into the deeper past to show how events often have their origin far earlier than may seem obvious. While it introduces more names and people to remember, it also avoids that feeling of being dropped into the middle of a story and having to play catch up.
Grummitt does an admirable job narrating the history of the Wars proper, although military history enthusiasts may be disappointed by the lack of battle details, but his wider perspective on the wars origins combined with his analysis of what the Wars of the Roses meant to English political culture make the book shine. He shows you why the Wars of the Roses happened and why they were important then and continue to be today.
I would absolutely recommend A Short Introduction to the Wars of the Roses. This series has (in my admittedly limited experience) done a great job of getting senior scholars to write engaging and approachable histories of large and complex historical topics. If the rest of the books are like the two I have read then I must say it is a tremendous achievement.