Howdy folks! Francis here again. I am still wowed by Wobert’s magnificent treatise on reality from a few days ago. He is truly the most eloquent among us, and I’m sure Martin would agree. Check out his posting if you haven’t already.

I was sorely tempted to follow Wobert’s lead and continue on about philosophy, but I have some unfinished business of my own regarding my posting last week about Richard III.

Thanks to Shakespeare’s play and Olivier’s performance in his 1956 masterpiece, I developed an obsession many years ago with the Wars of the Roses (properly phrased, its plural not singular.) As we’ve commented several times in the show, I have an extensive collection of at least one book devoted to every English King from Edward the Confessor through Henry VII. (Thomas More has his own shelf for the period immediately after that.) But in the case of the Wars of the Roses, I have just about every book I could get my hands upon as a subset of that larger collection. With that in mind, I thought I’d give you all a few of the better ones for you to perhaps start your own journey into this amazing period of time and space.

First off, I must differentiate between scholarly works, biographies and fictionalizations. For the uninitiated, start with the fictionalizations. The time period is so vast, the cast so large and diverse and the familial connections so complicated (in the end it was really all about them) that if you’ve never read much about the period, this will enable the players to take on a life of their own, prior to your pursuing more authentic histories.

So with that in mind, here are ‘Francis’ Favorites’ . . .

Conn Iggulden’s Four Part Series “The Wars of the Roses”

If you want to go deep with the full breadth of the conflict, these four books are a must. These cover everything from the ascendency of Henry VI through Richard III’s defeat at Bosworth. Most of the characters are real, although there are some fictional folks too, especially the spymaster Derry Brewer who absolutely steals the spotlight whenever he appears. The characterizations set forth here are key to learning the players and their motivations, so I highly recommend these four as a beginning. You wont fail to be entertained, I promise.

Bertram Wolffe’s Henry VI

Often dismissed as a mad pawn whose incompetence began this whole conflict, Wolfe humanizes this sad figure, doomed from the start by the impossible achievements of his father mixed with the mental illness inherited through his mother, Catherine of Valois. Thick and heavily sourced, this is a good one.

John Gillingham’s The Wars of the Roses

This is the historical one that laid most of my foundations, and Robert himself praises it often as he’s listened to the unabridged audio multiple times just as I have. Thorough and logically divided, this goes deep not only into the timeline and the players, but also the times and the original sources.

I discovered this book long before Dan Jones’ book of the same name so I list only Gillingham’s work here, but by all means, Jones’ book is excellent as well.

Paul Murray Kendall’s Richard III

One of Martin’s favorites on the subject, and mentioned often in the podcast, this biography from 1955 is still the standard research on this final Yorkist King.

Ironically it still holds up well, despite being written long before all the questions were answered with the discovery of Richard’s remains in 2012.

Sharon Kaye Penman’s The Sunne in Splendour

I’m keeping this list short, but have saved the best for last. This is one of the standards of historical fiction, that covers the life and times of Richard III featuring him as the protagonist. It is sympathetic to Richard as a person, statesman and king, and I won’t spoil it by telling you who Penman decided to have commit the murders of the two princes. (She explains her reasoning in the historical note.) If you’re looking for only one to read, I would suggest this one.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. If you’re looking for a TV or film version worth checking out, make sure you watch The White Queen TV series from Starz in 2013. It’s perhaps the best version yet, and covers an enormous amount of ground in its ten episodes.

And because I can’t go without posting a video, here’s the trailer for the series: