THE BROTHERS YORK

A dramatic portrait of 15th-century England, which was besieged by political upheaval, betrayals, and ruthless violence.

Penn, publishing director of Penguin Books UK and biographer of Henry VII, the first Tudor king, brings keen understanding and a sharp eye for detail to his prodigiously researched, engrossing history of the decadeslong conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York that ended, in 1485, with the advent of Henry VII. The brothers York were Edward, who reigned as Edward IV; George, duke of Clarence; and Richard, whose stealthy machinations gained him the crown after Edward died and his sons—Edward’s heirs—mysteriously disappeared under Richard’s watch. When Edward ascended to the throne in 1471, after the murder of the Lancastrian Henry VI, the brothers were heralded as representing a “new Yorkist unity” whose “fraternal love” was evidence “that the rightful order of things had been restored.” That bond, though, proved fragile, as the lust for land, wealth, and power came to shape the brothers’ relationships with one another, their political alliances, and their marriages. Knowing that family ties did not ensure loyalty, Edward heaped land grants and sumptuous goods on George to buy his faithfulness. As Penn writes, he “would be enveloped in Edward’s smothering love; in return he would give the king his unconditional obedience.” But when Clarence married an heiress, his need for his brother’s largesse diminished, and he became susceptible to treasonous plots. After a decade of Clarence’s defiance, Edward finally had enough; being the king’s brother could not save him from an ignominious fate. As for Richard, the young man praised for his “reckless bravery” grew into a violent, arrogant, and devious politician with his eye on nothing less than the throne. Besides chronicling intrigues, conspiracies, and shifting alliances among a large cast of characters, Penn details the “messy reality of life” among the nobles and their subjects: births and deaths, festivals and weddings, feasts and tournaments, famines and illness, and, not least, the unstoppable gossip that circulated constantly.

Rebellious decades come to life vividly in a taut, spirited history.