Brothers York

A Royal Tragedy

By: Thomas Penn

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

In early 1461, a 17-year-old boy won a battle on a freezing morning in the Welsh marches, and claimed the crown of England as Edward IV, first king of the usurping house of York. It was a time when old certainties had been shredded: by popular insurgency, economic crisis, feuding, and a corrupt, bankrupt government presided over by the imbecilic, Lancastrian King Henry VI. The country was in need of a new hero. Magnetic, narcissistic, Edward found himself on the throne, and alongside him his two younger brothers: the unstable, petulant George, Duke of Clarence, and the boy who would emerge from his shadow, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Charismatic, able, and ambitious, the brothers would become the figureheads of a spectacular ruling dynasty, one that laid the foundations for a renewal of English royal power. Yet a web of grudges and resentments grew between them, generating a destructive sequence of conspiracy, rebellion, deposition, fratricide, usurpation, and regicide. The house of York’s brutal end came on August 22, 1485, at Bosworth Field, with the death of the youngest brother, now Richard III, at the hands of a new usurper, Henry Tudor.

The Brothers York is the story of three remarkable brothers, two of whom were crowned kings of England and the other an heir presumptive, whose antagonism was fueled by the mistrust and vendettas of the age that brought their family to power. The house of York should have been the dynasty that the Tudors became. Its tragedy was that it devoured itself.

©2019 Thomas Penn (P)2020 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

The Wars of the Roses Made Clear

This is the best account of the numerous I have read in explaining the very complex history of the Wars of the Roses and the equally complex characters and their relationships.

Fascinating and entertaining

Any aficionado of English history will love this tome. Super entertaining and interesting, great narration!

Entertaining and informative

Well written. Entertaining and informative at the same time. Well researched and easy to follow.

Great Book. Great Narration.

Reads like a great story, not like a dry textbook. Kept my interest the entire book, and that's hard to do when it comes to history.

Detailed history of the

I have read many volumes on the war of the roses or the cousins war, and volumes on the various major players, and I was delighted to have earned some new information in my reading of The Brothers York. it is well written, In an engaging style that leaves the reader hanging on for more. The narrator did the book justice, and delivered the narrative in a lively engaging way. I definitely recommend this book to history lovers, but also anyone who likes a good story, because quite honestly the lives of this family is nothing less than extraordinary.