General Wars of the Roses research

[Dave Knight]

I have been asked to make a recommendation of a work covering the Wars of the Roses in general including the political as well as military aspects

My more recent purchases have all been as battle specific as I could make them and my general histories are all quite old now, so I wondered what people would suggest.

My instinct was to suggest Anthony Goodman but his books are a bit long in the tooth now.  Perhaps something more political plus Mike Ingram's new Bosworth book which has a general troop type and weapons section?

[Anton]

It is very specific in its focus but Graham Evans Edgcote has an awful lot going for it.  It's also well written.  I'm a newcomer to the WOTR period and I got a great deal out of it.  Perhaps your enquirer would have a similar experience.  Just a thought.

[Erpingham]

Michael Hicks' book The Wars of the Roses (one thing about this period is the number of books with the same title )  is supposed to be a solid study by a regular medieval (as opposed to military) historian, though I've not read it myself.  The social, political and economic sides of this, plus the foreign policy angles can be glossed over in straight military studies, or character-based stuff.

[Tim]

Trevor Royale's 2009 volume on the subject is good and very readable if you like narrative history. I probably would not read it again as I would want more specialist material next.

[Baldie]

May not be what you are after but Dan Browns the hollow crown has lots about the double dealing of the time and I was really interested at how powerful and devious some of the women were at the time.