Book Review #5

The War of the Roses by Alison Weir

History can be a tricky thing to write about. There is always the issues of bias, accuracy and complexity with which to deal. Being my first foray into this era of English history it is hard to speak to the authors dealings with the first two issues, but it is the latter that presents both the main strength and weakness of the book.

The War of the Roses covers a period of English history primarily from 1455-1487. The text does a solid job of setting the stage for the political situation and bringing the personal traits and motivations of many of the main players to life. Given the magnitude of the cast and the number of titles and people to contend with, the author does an admirable job of keeping the overall flow of the tale moving forward. I do feel that in some form or fashion more could have been done to help the reader keep track of the relationships and titles various people had and held throughout the time frame and their significance. At times it became exceedingly difficult to understand who was related to whom and in what capacity the different titles conferred influence and power. No doubt this was problematic for the people of the time also.

I can recommend the book as a fairly concise and apparently thorough look at the situation and one that leaves you with a richer understanding of a famous time in English history.