The Women of the Wars of the Roses: Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort & Elizabeth of York

This book is a breath of fresh air. As a history buff, it’s nice to read a book that focuses on important women in (British) history. ‘The Women of the Wars of the Roses’ looks at the lives of Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth of York. The book goes into detail about everything from how they looked to major events that shaped their lives – and possibly shaped history.I love how this book is straightforward in the details of each of the woman’s lives. I felt like I had a good understanding of not only the women presented in this book, and the period they lived in, but also how their lives intertwined with powerful figures from the Tudor period. I also felt like the author stayed neutral on some of the more controversial parts of the women’s lives (that Elizabeth Woodville practiced dark magic, for example) and simply presented the facts.Alicia Carter did an excellent job laying out the details of the lives of 3 very important women. Anyone interested in the Tudor period of British history will appreciate the detail Carter goes into. A must read!

Carter takes a dynamic look at the three women who established the Tudor Dynasty, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, and Elizabeth of York.Carter examines accepted contemporary sources to give us an insight to the character of the women. Her writing style is easy to read and she addresses the juicy topics that historical fiction writers embellish on such as: Did Richard III and Elizabeth of York have an affair? You might be surprised by her conclusion.Carter has done her research and it shows. The book held my interest and wasn't a dry, dusty historical read. If you find the Tudors and the Wars of the Roses a compelling time in history, this is a nice companion piece. The novel is rooted in historical facts which gives us a rare glimpse of each woman's personality, courage, and inner strength.

This is a well written and well researched book. Like many reviewers I am glad to read about the women and their fate in what was then a war filled, male dominated society. My problem with this book, and with many books on this subject in particular is that it is a bit narrow. We are told about King Edward IV marry Elizabeth, a commoner, for love, and that is amazing, given the fact that he was in the middle of negotiating a contract with a powerful foreign country, which would help his own country England. The author then skips to all of the terrible things that happened to her family after the death of King Edward IV. Which is a large leap, because a good many good things happened to her family, the Rivers and Woodvilles in between. Elizabeth's children from her first marriage were given titles, her relatives were married into the richest families in the Kingdom. One of these was a very young man married to an heiress in her eighties. So a bunch of rich and powerful people lost some wealth and power to the new Queen, in a very short time. This isn't mentioned and these people, used to power, made a grab for it back when the King died. It was whispered the Queen was even a witch and had cast a spell on King Edward. That would have been an interesting, in depth study, as to how smart, capable, women had to get their abilities from the nether regions rather than from hard work, and innate ability.I think my point is that if anyone wrote a truly balanced book about these times I would be thrilled. It seems even the best histories seem to demonize one side of the Roses or the other. I am about to buy a book on the subject by Dan Jones, an English historian, that I am told gives the history of both the Red Rose and the White, both sides in the same book, all the facts as we can know them this far away from the events.This is a really interesting well written book, just not very complete.

Readers with a short attention span will find this book most welcome. The size of the book is comfortable to hold and read without tiring. There is a surprising connection of these women and their lives. Rather than bog you down, the text carries you along quite comfortably.

I initially bought this book thinking it was a historical fiction about Henry VIII's mother and grandmothers. After receiving it, I was not pleased to find out that it is an 8.5 x5.5'' soft cover book with a question and answer format, possibly a self-published book. Not only the font used is about fourteen or sixteen but the text is double spaced fitting only two paragraphs per page. Also almost twenty-five to third percent of the book is repeated in different sections since the characters are related. With a font of eight to ten like most books and without the repeated info, this soft cover would be no more than about forty pages instead of one hundred and ninety making it not a good value for the money.The paper this book is printed on is beautiful and expensive, and the cover of the book has the pictures of Margaret Beaufort (Henry VIII's fraternal grandmother), Elizabeth of York (Henry VIII's mother) and Elizabeth Woodville (his maternal grandmother). The book covers the events which took place in the fourteen and the fifteen century England and is consists of three sections, each section having the answers of the most commonly asked questions about each woman. The book is jam packed with so many historical details in such a small space but still I think the price is not a good value for what you get.

I am fascinated by history and love reading about historical women. While I found this interesting, I was disappointed in the lack of detail. I wanted so much more.

Wish I had had a chance to read this before "The Tudors" and "The White Queen". This was a wonderfully written book that really kept my interest and let me know much more about these three women and their time in history (and set straight some of the misconceptions in the White Queen). Alicia Carter knows her stuff and shares it well. I would so recommend this book for anyone who is interested in this time in English history or finding more about the importance of historical women during this time. Well worth the read, and definitely a keeper!

Not quite finished it yet but very easy to read, interesting. Author does tend to repeat herself and I do get lost at times as to who is related to whom. However highly enjoyable read.

Very nice read,

Me encanta. Me asustaba que el nivel de inglés fuera muy alto para mi pero lo cierto es que se puede leer con facilidad. trata los personajes con rigor sin abandonar la amenidad

I was rather disappointed here for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was more a 'Dear Reader' style of writing. Secondly, it appears to be aimed at a reader with little knowledge of the people involved and no knowledge of the era. The book did not deliver any new facts or insights into the women involved. Although there are numerous references (well over 200), none of them were of particular interest.However, if the reader has no knowledge of the period, or is a teenager just getting to grips with British history, this book may be of some interest.If you're at all knowledgeable, don't waste your money.

fantastic