Edward IV

Few English monarchs had to fight harder for the right to rule than King Edward IV Shakespeares glorious son of York. Cast in the Plantagenet mould, over six feet tall, he was a naturally charismatic leader. Edward had the knack of seizing the initiative and winning battles and is free from the unflattering characterisations that plagued his brother, Richard III, having been portrayed as a good-looking and formidable military tactician. Described sometimes as reckless and profligate, all sources remark on his personal bravery. In the eleven years between 1460 and 1471 he fought five major battles in the Wars of the Roses. Three of them Towton, Barnet and Tewkesbury rank among the most decisive of the medieval period. This book covers Edwards family background, the Yorkist takeover and the drift to war. It charts the tensions created by the controversial Woodville marriage and Edwards deposition by the Earl of Warwick and subsequent exile. The return of the king brought with it more battles and Edwards decisive campaigns against Warwick and Margaret of Anjou. Finally, Edwards sudden death heralded the demise of the House of York and the eventual triumph of the Tudors. This is the history of Edward IVs struggle to gain and regain the crown during a period of sustained dynastic turmoil.