Steve Kinnard answers “Which war of the rose sea book is better:...”

Kathryn Rogers asked this question about The Wars of the Roses:

Which war of the rose sea book is better: Alison weirs or Dan Jones?

Steve Kinnard Dan Jones's book is a relatively easy read with a very polished narrative for easy consumption. Jones, however, in his attempt to tell a "story" rathe…moreDan Jones's book is a relatively easy read with a very polished narrative for easy consumption. Jones, however, in his attempt to tell a "story" rather than an academic historical account, tends to gloss on a fair number of things. His book tends to have a bit of a "York wasn't such a bad guy" tone to it, and in doing so he doesn't really dig deep into any of the nuance and motivations for York's actions, nor the terms of his (repeated) punishments for what was essentially treason.

Weir's book is a lot more academic. I also think it's a good place to mention Michael Hicks' Wars of the Roses. It's probably the "best" in terms of historical research and analysis, being far more critical of the contemporary sources (mostly written in Edward IV's reign) than either Weir or Jones, but it's a little clumsily written (a fair amount of repetition and the occasional reference to future events that somebody unfamiliar with the time period may get confused by) and ponderous at times, so might only interest people really interested in the topic.

I'd pick from between the three, depending on whether you want the Easy (Jones), Medium (Weir), or Expert (Hicks) difficulty version of the story. (less)

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The Wars of the Roses

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