The Brothers York

The Brothers York: A Royal Tragedy- Thomas Penn
Simon & Schuster
Release Date: June 16, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: In 15th-century England, two royal families, the House of York and the House of Lancaster, fought a bitter, decades-long civil war for the English throne. As their symbols were a red rose for Lancaster and a white rose for York, the conflict became known as the Wars of the Roses.

During this time, the house of York came to dominate England. At its heart were three charismatic brothers—King Edward IV, and his two younger siblings George and Richard—who became the figureheads of a spectacular ruling dynasty. Together, they looked invincible.

But with Edward’s ascendancy the brothers began to turn on one another, unleashing a catastrophic chain of rebellion, vendetta, fratricide, usurpation, and regicide. The brutal end came at Bosworth Field in 1485, with the death of the youngest, then Richard III, at the hands of a new usurper, Henry Tudor, later Henry VII, progenitor of the Tudor line of monarchs.

Fascinating, dramatic, and filled with vivid historical detail, The Brothers York is a brilliant account of a conflict that fractured England for a generation. Riven by internal rivalries, jealousy, and infighting, the three York brothers failed to sustain their power and instead self-destructed. It is a rich and bloody tale as gripping as any historical fiction.

_____________________________________________________________________

For history lovers looking to read a definitive book on an English monarch or their era (such as Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him or Good Queen Anne), in my opinion the book to read for King Edward IV's reign is The Brothers York: A Royal Tragedy by Thomas Penn.  Encompassing not only Edward IV's life and times, The Brothers York weaves together the stories of the battles between the Lancasters and the Yorks, Nevilles, Percys, Woodvilles, Rivers, and more.  More importantly, it also puts into context the lives of Edward's brothers George, the Duke of Clarence, and Richard, who would become King Richard III.  

What the average person knows of this family is probably little to nothing, and then their 'knowledge' is based on Shakespeare's evil King Richard destroying his family.  In Penn's Brothers York we meet the ambitious Edward and his advisor Warwick "the Kingmaker", the fascinating politics behind how Edward rewarded his favorites, and his unusual (and questionable) ways of constantly increasing the royal coffers.  Edward focused on the image of the royal family as a united front, heads above everyone else, and Penn argues that if Edward and his brothers had been able to remain united, there is probably little they couldn't have done.  But politics and personalities interfere and jealousy and the lures of ever increasing power were too much to keep the brothers united.  But the fractures didn't occur the way you think they did.

This is not your Shakespearean family, but a well-researched, well-written, neutral, and detailed account of Edward IV's reign, the multiple betrayals by the spoiled Clarence, and the warrior brother Richard, who was loyal to his elder brother until Edward's death- but not beyond.  The Brothers York is a fascinating history of brothers seeking to end conclusively the "Wars of the Roses", written in a casual, story-telling style that, combined with the drama and larger than life personalities involved, makes the pages fly by. An absolute must read for history lovers!       

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review