The War of the Roses. The Conflict that Inspired the Creators of Game of Thrones

Mad monarchs, underage rulers imprisoned in dungeons; noble families feuding with one another; disputes over the order of succession to the throne and kings who executed their own brothers; exiled nobles, wars with France, and the unification of bitter enemies in the fight against a common foe - the history of the War of the Roses from 1455 to 1485 is so dramatic that it sometimes resembles a gripping novel. It is no surprise that this period inspired the creators of the globally popular series Game of Thrones. Telling the story of the 15th-century wars between the supporters of the two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty - the Lancasters and the Yorks - J. D. Doherty, the author of well-known books about Vikings, Celts, and the art of warfare, follows the course of the conflict - from the inheritance of the crown in the infancy of Henry VI to the quelling of the rebellions under Henry VII - and shows that the main actors in the conflict were driven by their conflicting commitments to blood and marital ties, and, above all, their own ambitions. From the madness of Henry VI, captured during battle, to the mystery of the princes - prisoners of the Tower and the truth about the deformity of Richard III, the book The War of the Roses presents a vibrant narrative of more than thirty twilight years, during which intrigue, betrayal, murder, and deception served as the main means for the political figures of medieval England to seize and hold power.