Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Out of the complicated tangle of dynastic politics in late 15th-century England was woven the tapestry of blood and roses which included in its scenes the rise and fall of Richard of Gloucester, the removal of the young princes, and the successful gamble of Henry Tudor to gain the throne. The victory at Bosworth field decided the fortunes of a family, but it did not insure a strong succession. One of the merits of this book is to show how vulnerable were the kings to the efforts of the pretenders to unseat them. The first serious revolt was mounted by hostile magnates using Lambert Simnel, the son of an Oxford merchant, as their puppet. Posing as the earl of Warwick and crowned in Ireland as Edward VI, Simnel was backed by a large aristocractic alliance, strengthened by a force of German mercenaries sent over by the Yorkist Margaret of Burgundy. Their army invaded England in the summer of 1487 and was defeated by royalist forces at Stoke. As a detailed narrative of these events and a scholarly discussion of their significance for Tudor history, even down to Henry VIII's desperate search for a male heir, this is an important and useful monograph." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)