The Wars of the Roses
by Alison Weir

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Book Reviews of The Wars of the Roses

Book Review: A Competently-told Chronicle
Summary: 3 Stars

Weir has clearly mastered her material, but still this story seemed curiously lifeless. There are murders and betrayals aplenty, and even occasional selfless and heroic behavior, but presented rather matter-of-factly. Besides this, there are a couple of problems that I see.

One is perhaps typical of a history: unless the historian has the flair of a storyteller, it just becomes one damn thing after another. I found little that was compelling in a narrative with great possibilities, nor motivation for what seemed to be bizarre behavior on everyone's part.

Another problem here was simply in a lack of supporting material. Maps of territories being contested, and diagrams of battles, would help to place these events in space and give each fight an identity. What is more, a dense chronicle like this one needs to be bristling with dates, perhaps as a running comment in a margin. We are given the day and the month constantly as things go on, but I found myself having forgotten the year, and unable to find it. Rather than constantly wading through detail, a reader should be able to get out and see the wider picture from time to time, too.

It is with some relief that I turn to the Henry VI plays, even though the history is compressed and distorted to serve the drama. In Shakespeare, it all makes sense, somehow.

Irish Books

• Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National
• Leaders & Notable People > Royalty
• History > Europe > England
• World