Edward IV (Penguin Monarchs): The Summer King

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Part of the Penguin Monarchs series- short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers - now in paperback In 1461 Edward earl of March, an able, handsome, and charming eighteen-year old, usurped the English throne from his feeble Lancastrian predecessor Henry VI. Ten years on, following outbreaks of civil conflict that culminated in him losing, then regaining the crown, he had finally secured his kingdom. The years that followed witnessed a period of rule that has been described as a golden age- a time of peace and economic and industrial expansion, which saw the establishment of a style of monarchy that the Tudors would later develop. Yet, argues A. J. Pollard, Edward, who was drawn to a life of sexual and epicurean excess, was a man of limited vision, his reign remaining to the very end the narrow rule of a victorious faction in civil war. Ultimately, his failure was dynastic- barely two months after his death in April 1483, the throne was usurped by Edward's youngest brother, Richard III.

Author Bio

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood- the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker- Politics, Power and Fame.