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sashshearman's review against another edition
If you are looking for a chronology of the Wars of the Roses, this biography may be a good place to start, as the book is really a series of descriptions of events.
Unfortunately there was almost no analysis of the personalities of the time or the relationships between, for example, Margaret of Anjou and Henry. The author does not explain the reasons for action and antipathy between players. Why did the Duke of York rebel? There is no explanation. He just did. There is no mention, for example, of the money owed to York by the Crown when York was in France, which I have read in other histories was one of the causes of the rupture.
There is mention of “lawlessness” but no examples of the deterioration of civil order. No description of Henry’s day-to-day life. No description or analysis of the decisions made by Henry’s councillors that caused unrest and anger in the populace. Very few references to contemporary sources or quotes. Mention is made of Henry travelling far and wide to arbitrate disputes. If there are records of any of those proceedings, it would have been interesting to have details of some of the disputes to gauge what sort of decision he made. Was it wise? Too generous? Too conciliatory? We are told that he was too generous and too conciliatory but without examples it is difficult to get a sense of the man or the time.
Ms Johnson’s writing style is great and despite my frustrations I read to the end. If I had not known anything else about the Wars of the Roses, I would have concluded after reading this book that the whole saga was solely a power play amongst the elite. Of course that was part of it, but the complexities beyond greed and personal ambition were not explored. Henry remains a shadow.
Unfortunately there was almost no analysis of the personalities of the time or the relationships between, for example, Margaret of Anjou and Henry. The author does not explain the reasons for action and antipathy between players. Why did the Duke of York rebel? There is no explanation. He just did. There is no mention, for example, of the money owed to York by the Crown when York was in France, which I have read in other histories was one of the causes of the rupture.
There is mention of “lawlessness” but no examples of the deterioration of civil order. No description of Henry’s day-to-day life. No description or analysis of the decisions made by Henry’s councillors that caused unrest and anger in the populace. Very few references to contemporary sources or quotes. Mention is made of Henry travelling far and wide to arbitrate disputes. If there are records of any of those proceedings, it would have been interesting to have details of some of the disputes to gauge what sort of decision he made. Was it wise? Too generous? Too conciliatory? We are told that he was too generous and too conciliatory but without examples it is difficult to get a sense of the man or the time.
Ms Johnson’s writing style is great and despite my frustrations I read to the end. If I had not known anything else about the Wars of the Roses, I would have concluded after reading this book that the whole saga was solely a power play amongst the elite. Of course that was part of it, but the complexities beyond greed and personal ambition were not explored. Henry remains a shadow.
eserafina42's review
4.0
3.5 stars. Through no fault of the author, I hasten to add, Henry comes off as a bit player even in the story of his own life.
caidyn's review
informative
medium-paced
4.25
Long, but very detailed on Henry VI's reign. I did enjoy how the author even admits that he's kind of a shadow in his own reign. I wish we knew more about his health and what happened during the time he became psychotic.
mareeta_rose's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
One of the best biographies of Henry VI out there! If you're a fan of the Wars of the Roses I highly suggest giving it a read.
bristoni74's review against another edition
4.0
As a lover of medieval history and quite familiar with the Wars of the Roses, I still only knew the basics of Henry VI’s life, so was pleased to purchase this as a hardcover to add to my library. Henry VI became King of England at only 9 months old when his father Henry V (famous as a great medieval knight who won the Battle of Agincourt in 1415). Unfortunately, Henry V died as a young man in his 30’s of dysentery in France and he never met his son.
Henry VI is the only King of England to be both crowned King of England and France . As a King from only 9 months old, there was of course a very long regency period, where Henry was advised, mentored and supported by the men around him. His Uncles, whilst ambitious, have something in their favour in that they supported their nephew through such a long regency, and didn’t seek to “murder” or dispose of a child for their own power like others do in the future.
However, Henry VI was not a man “of his time”. His personality and also the sheltered environment he grew up in, was not what a “great” medieval King required. His was very bookish (founding both Eton and Cambridge), very devoted to prayer and religion, compassionate, kind and very easily influenced. He sought peace over war and was unable to manage the political factions in his court. He didn't lead men in battle and didn't take part in battle until he was in his 30's.
He wasn’t a womaniser or a drinker and it was said he was a virgin when he married Margaret of Anjou in 1445 at the age of 23. They had one son but he wasn’t born until 8 years after they were married and rumours spread that he wasn’t Henry’s son, given at the time of his son’s birth, he collapsed into a catatonic state for many months. There has been much debate over the centuries as to what caused Henry’s “madness” and what he suffered from. I feel the author provides a very credible explanation for his collapse, given Henry’s personality and the stress and anxiety he would have experienced over many years as King.
What I enjoyed about this book was the sympathetic portrait of Henry, Lauren Johnson has written. Her research and sources are excellent and she provides a good balance between setting out a narrative of events and analysis of character and motives - including Henry and the many players around him.
Unfortunately, whilst Henry VI was a “good” man, he wasn’t a medieval King and it ultimately lead to the usurpation of his throne by his cousin Edward of York (as his Grandfather, Henry IV had usurped the throne of his cousin Richard II in 1399), his murder and the War of the Roses.
Honestly, who can say history is boring – their lives are more complicated than a soap opera!
Henry VI is the only King of England to be both crowned King of England and France . As a King from only 9 months old, there was of course a very long regency period, where Henry was advised, mentored and supported by the men around him. His Uncles, whilst ambitious, have something in their favour in that they supported their nephew through such a long regency, and didn’t seek to “murder” or dispose of a child for their own power like others do in the future.
However, Henry VI was not a man “of his time”. His personality and also the sheltered environment he grew up in, was not what a “great” medieval King required. His was very bookish (founding both Eton and Cambridge), very devoted to prayer and religion, compassionate, kind and very easily influenced. He sought peace over war and was unable to manage the political factions in his court. He didn't lead men in battle and didn't take part in battle until he was in his 30's.
He wasn’t a womaniser or a drinker and it was said he was a virgin when he married Margaret of Anjou in 1445 at the age of 23. They had one son but he wasn’t born until 8 years after they were married and rumours spread that he wasn’t Henry’s son, given at the time of his son’s birth, he collapsed into a catatonic state for many months. There has been much debate over the centuries as to what caused Henry’s “madness” and what he suffered from. I feel the author provides a very credible explanation for his collapse, given Henry’s personality and the stress and anxiety he would have experienced over many years as King.
What I enjoyed about this book was the sympathetic portrait of Henry, Lauren Johnson has written. Her research and sources are excellent and she provides a good balance between setting out a narrative of events and analysis of character and motives - including Henry and the many players around him.
Unfortunately, whilst Henry VI was a “good” man, he wasn’t a medieval King and it ultimately lead to the usurpation of his throne by his cousin Edward of York (as his Grandfather, Henry IV had usurped the throne of his cousin Richard II in 1399), his murder and the War of the Roses.
Honestly, who can say history is boring – their lives are more complicated than a soap opera!
rachel_kw's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, even if it took me a while to read cause I gave other books priority over it. On that topic, this book did drag in places for me, I saw other reviews where people said they completely powered through it but I only did that in a couple of places. I think cause there was just so much groundwork to lay for understanding every single conflict and where the War of The Roses came from. The book's timeline is roughly 1415 to 1471 which is a lot of groundwork to cover. However, besides how long it took me to read it, I really enjoyed this book!
This book gave me everything I wanted and more! A lot of the problems I had with The War of The Roses by Dan Jones were completely remedied in this book!
I liked Johnson's writing style, I think she effectively used direct quotes from primary sources well.
I like how she has extremely descriptive beginnings to her chapters, it really sucks you in and it sounds pretty.
Richard of York is extremely interesting in how arrogant he was while still being on the "right" side. Like that part when York returns to London in triumph and strides all the way up to the empty chair of the king in front of parliament and stands right in front of it(which is a big no-no, nobody goes on the dais unless you're king). The only way I describe my feelings towards that scene is OHOHOHO
I really enjoyed how Johnson tackled Henry's character and personality. She made him a real 3-dimensional person instead of "the shadow on the wall." It's quite tragic how devoted to peace Henry was and how much bloodshed happened for/because of him.
This book is really interesting to me in that it's basically a case study of how the lessons and principles you learn in your formative years define your entire life. Henry's actions make sense with how he was raised and what he saw as a child that told him how the world worked.
I REALLY enjoyed how Johnson wrote about Margaret of Anjou because unlike some other authors *cough* Dan Jones *cough*, Margaret of Anjou was not tyrannical, she was an extremely driven woman in a world that despised her for this. And like Henry, Johnson portrays Margaret as an actual real person with extremely clear motivations.
Johnson uses the perfect word in the prologue to describe Margaret, indefatigable. She was indefatigable, she never gave up(until Tewkesbury). And all I gotta say about Johnson's portrayal of Margaret is that THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN A WOMEN WRITES ABOUT ANOTHER WOMAN.
Anyways, if Margaret was a man a lot more people would like her and be a lot more sympathetic to her........
I suppose one of the main takeaways from this is that Johnson knows how to effectively portray historical figures as real people like her writing might get me to read her book about Henry VIII and i fucking hate that guy.
This book was really good! Johnson's writing is captivating and the character study is really good.
This book gave me everything I wanted and more! A lot of the problems I had with The War of The Roses by Dan Jones were completely remedied in this book!
I liked Johnson's writing style, I think she effectively used direct quotes from primary sources well.
I like how she has extremely descriptive beginnings to her chapters, it really sucks you in and it sounds pretty.
Richard of York is extremely interesting in how arrogant he was while still being on the "right" side. Like that part when York returns to London in triumph and strides all the way up to the empty chair of the king in front of parliament and stands right in front of it(which is a big no-no, nobody goes on the dais unless you're king). The only way I describe my feelings towards that scene is OHOHOHO
I really enjoyed how Johnson tackled Henry's character and personality. She made him a real 3-dimensional person instead of "the shadow on the wall." It's quite tragic how devoted to peace Henry was and how much bloodshed happened for/because of him.
This book is really interesting to me in that it's basically a case study of how the lessons and principles you learn in your formative years define your entire life. Henry's actions make sense with how he was raised and what he saw as a child that told him how the world worked.
I REALLY enjoyed how Johnson wrote about Margaret of Anjou because unlike some other authors *cough* Dan Jones *cough*, Margaret of Anjou was not tyrannical, she was an extremely driven woman in a world that despised her for this. And like Henry, Johnson portrays Margaret as an actual real person with extremely clear motivations.
Johnson uses the perfect word in the prologue to describe Margaret, indefatigable. She was indefatigable, she never gave up(until Tewkesbury). And all I gotta say about Johnson's portrayal of Margaret is that THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN A WOMEN WRITES ABOUT ANOTHER WOMAN.
Anyways, if Margaret was a man a lot more people would like her and be a lot more sympathetic to her........
I suppose one of the main takeaways from this is that Johnson knows how to effectively portray historical figures as real people like her writing might get me to read her book about Henry VIII and i fucking hate that guy.
This book was really good! Johnson's writing is captivating and the character study is really good.
schoolofholly's review
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
5.0
I was initially worried about the length of this book considering the subject matter. Whilst I really wanted to learn more about Henry VI I'm so used to history books being dry and slow. I needn't have worried, this reads like a novel, the author blends fact with a few flourishes like descriptions of the weather in a way that keeps it factual but brings you into the writing.
I was hooked from the very begining and devoured this book in a much shorter time-span than I've been able to achieve with most of the non-fiction I've read over the years. A brilliant and comprehensive history.
I was hooked from the very begining and devoured this book in a much shorter time-span than I've been able to achieve with most of the non-fiction I've read over the years. A brilliant and comprehensive history.