Peace and Conflict in 15th Century England
Phoenix Press, 2001, (1981), $19.95, ISBN-1-84212-274-6, 274 pages, trade paperback

For those wanting a one-volume explanation of the Wars of the Roses, this book of the identical name needs a spot on your shelf. It is, from the beginning, a military history, with politics tossed in--as opposed to the usual political book that touches on battles. Its strength lies in campaign analysis.

In meticulous detail, Gillingham chronicles the various campaigns over the course of 40 or so years. Indeed, his detail is such that you often must go searching for a map to keep the cities and towns straight, especially if you don't have an atlas of the English countryside loaded into brain-ram. Then again, I enjoy that level of observation, for the actual set-piece battles and sieges are almost an afterthought.

Partly because of contemporary accounts, or the lack thereof, the big battles are only given a cursory description by Gillingham. In some respects, it's a bit disappointing, for he so draws you into the directions and strategies of the campaign, you really want a big finish. Alas, no. The Battle of Barnet, for example, so incisively built up from a campaign standpoint, takes up about two pages. Later on, the Battle of Tewksbury is another two pages. Bosworth? Three pages.

But give Gillingham credit. He writes passionately about the double-dealing, scheming, power-hungry pack of nobles and their various aspirations, intermarriages, treaties, pacts, and backstabs. Certainly, it is a colorful period and it gets your pulse going as you follow the various threads. Truth is stranger than fiction and no plot of a novel can compete with this reality.

The Wars of the Roses has five maps of average quality. If this period interests you, buy a big map somewhere--it'll help you plot out the excellent campaign descriptions inside this marvelous book. I'm sorry I missed this back in 1981, but glad it has been reprinted. Don't miss it again.

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