Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London (72 page)

Chapter Six: Roses are Blood Red

Edward IV, the central and dominant figure of the wars, is dealt with in detail by Charles Ross in
Edward IV
(1976), the definitive life. His ally turned rival,
Warwick the Kingmaker
, has been equally fully and fairly treated by Michael Hicks (1998). Edward’s Queen,
Elizabeth Woodville
, that great survivor, has found a good biographer in David Baldwin (2002).

The villainous yet strangely appealing Richard III has attracted a larger literature than the wars themselves.

Highly recommended is the definitive life,
Richard III
by Michael Hicks (2000). While Desmond Seward’s
Richard III: England’s Black Legend
(1982) readably damns Richard with all this author’s customary gusto.

Accounts of battles include
Barnet and Tewkesbury
by P. W. Hammond (1990);
The Battle of Bosworth
by Michael Bennett (1985); and
Bosworth 1485
by Michael K. Jones (2002). The biggest bloodbath of all is covered by A. W. Boardman in
The Battle of Towton
(1994) and by George Goodwin in
Fatal Colours: Towton, 1461, England’s Most Brutal Battle
(2011).

Chapter Seven: The Princes, the Protector and the Pretenders

The Tower’s most enduring mystery, the fate of the little princes, is considered at length by Elizabeth Jenkins in
The Princes in the Tower
(1978); and by
A. J. Pollard in
Richard III and the Princes in the Tower
(1991); and is definitively solved with the finger of guilt pointing firmly at Richard by Alison Weir in her clear and concise indictment, also titled
The Princes in the Tower
(1992).

The unlikely accession of Henry Tudor to power as Henry VII is briskly narrated by Ralph A. Griffiths and Roger S. Thomas in
The Making of the Tudor Dynasty
(1985); while the two chief challenges to his rule, those of Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, are covered respectively by Michael Bennett in
Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke
(1987) and Anne Wroe in
Perkin
(2003). The chief fomentor of Yorkist conspiracies against Henry, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, has been given her considerable due by Christine Weightman in
Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy 1446–1503
(1989), while Desmond Seward brings his usual brio to telling the story of the continuing Yorkist threat to the Tudors into the reign of Henry VIII in
The Last White Rose
(2010).

Chapter Eight: The King’s Great Matter

There are numerous biographies of Henry VIII, of which the following can be safely and strongly recommended:
Henry VIII
by Francis Hackett (1929, 1949); and
Henry VIII
by J. J. Scarisbrick (1968).

We eagerly await the concluding volume of David Starkey’s life which began with his study of the young Henry in
Henry: Virtuous Prince
( 2008); meanwhile his
The Reign of Henry VIII: Personalities and Politics
(2002) is a good short introduction to the period.

Alison Weir’s
Henry VIII, King and Court
and Derek Wilson’s
In the Lion’s Court
(both 2002) offer excellent accounts of the murderous and risky life at the top in Henry’s England. The best biographies of the major figures at Henry’s court are
Cranmer
by Diarmaid MacCulloch (1996),
Thomas Cromwell
by Robert Hutchinson (2007) and
Thomas More
by Richard Marius (1985).

Sharply contrasting views are offered of Anne Boleyn by her American biographers, Retha Warnicke whose
The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn
(1989) attributes her death to male fears of witchcraft and of an educated and outspoken woman, and Professor George Bernard whose
Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions
(2010) suggests that Anne was, after all, guilty of the adultery for which she died. Professor Eric Ives, Boleyn’s major British biographer, in
The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn
(1986, reworked in 2004), by contrast attributes her downfall to wider politics: the diplomatic duels between England, Spain and France, and the clash between reformers and conservatives in the
Church. Alison Weir, in
The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn
(2009), sensibly sifts the available evidence and comes to the conclusion that the traditional explanation for Anne’s fall – chiefly her inability to produce a male heir and Henry’s declining sexual interest – is broadly correct.

A fascinating speculative account of Anne’s friend – and possibly more – the poet Thomas Wyatt, who suffered in the Tower like his father before him and his son after, is
Graven with Diamonds
by Nicola Shulman (2011). Among other nuggets, Shulman reveals that the poet’s father, Henry Wyatt, who had been tortured at the Tower under Richard III with a horse’s barnacle – a device for pinching and tearing the mouth – incorporated this instrument of torture into the family coat of arms.

Chapter Nine: The Henrician Terror

Geoffrey Moorhouse wrote the most accessible modern account of
The Pilgrimage of Grace
(2002); while for the clash between religious reformers and conservatives which marked the latter years of Henry’s reign see
The Last Days of Henry VIII
by Robert Hutchinson (2005).

For the histories of the two rival dynasties, riven by religious, political and personal feuds – and who, like the Wyatts, both suffered in the Tower over three generations – see Robert Hutchinson’s
House of Treason
(2009) on the Howards, and Derek Wilson’s
The Uncrowned Kings of England
(2005) on the Dudleys.

For the execution of Catherine Howard see
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
(1991) by Alison Weir and
Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford
by Julia Fox (2007). For the execution of the Earl of Surrey see
Henry VIII’s Last Victim
by Jessie Childs (2007).

Chapter Ten: Tudor Children

For Edward VI see
Edward VI: The Lost King of England
(2007) by Chris Skidmore. The Duke of Somerset still lacks his own biography, but for his rival John Dudley see
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
by David Loades (1996). For Lady Jane Grey see
Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen
by Alison Plowden (2003) and
Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery
by Eric Ives (2009). For Mary I see Carolly Erickson’s
Bloody Mary
(1978), Linda Porter’s
Mary Tudor, First Tudor Queen
(2007) and Anna Whitelock’s
Mary Tudor: England’s First Queen
(2009).

For the Marian persecutions see
Bloody Mary’s Martyrs: The Story of England’s Terror
by Jasper Ridley (2001) and Eamon Duffy’s fine
Fires of Faith
(2009).

For Elizabeth I see
Elizabeth I
by J. E. Neale (1954),
Elizabeth, Queen of England
by Neville Williams (1967),
Elizabeth: A Study in Power and Intellect
by Paul Johnson (1974),
Elizabeth I
by Anne Somerset (1991),
and Elizabeth the Queen
by Alison Weir (1999).

Chapter Eleven: Fallen Favourites

For Elizabeth and Robert Dudley see
Elizabeth and Leicester
by Milton Waldman (1946); and studies under the same title by Elizabeth Jenkins (1961) and Sarah Grist Wood (2007). See also
Sweet Robin: A Biography of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester 1553–1558
by Derek Wilson (1997) and
Death and the Virgin
by Chris Skidmore (2010) – an examination of the mysterious death of Dudley’s wife Amy Robsart.

For Sir Walter and Bess Ralegh see
Sir Walter Ralegh
by Eric Ecclestone (1941),
That Great Lucifer
by Margaret Irwin (1960),
Sir Walter Ralegh
by Robert Lacey (1973) and
My Just Desire
by Anna Beer (2003). See also
Sir Walter Raleigh: Selected Prose and Poetry
edited by Agnes M. C. Latham (1965) and
The Creature in the Map: Sir Walter Ralegh’s Quest for El Dorado
(1996) by the always excellent Charles Nicholl.

For the Earls of Essex and Southampton see
Robert, Earl of Essex
by Robert Lacey (1971) and
Shakespeare and the Earl of Southampton
by G. P. V. Akrigg (1968). For James I – by my estimation England’s most despicable monarch – see
The Cradle King
by Alan Stewart (2003).

Chapter Twelve: Papists, Plots and Poisons

For Catholic plots against Elizabeth I and the state’s repressive response see
Danger to Elizabeth
by Alison Plowden (1971); Alice Hogge’s
God’s Secret Agents
(2005) gives a remarkably well-researched, detailed yet dispassionate account of the heroic and treasonous efforts of the undercover Jesuit missionary priests to keep the Catholic faith alive in Elizabethan England. Alan Haynes’
The Elizabethan Secret Services
(1992) is a densely detailed and equally well-researched investigation into the embryonic Elizabethan secret state. Charles Nicholls’ engrossing and beautifully written
The Reckoning
(1992), though about the murder of the playwright Christopher Marlowe, opens out to present a convincing picture of the wilderness of mirrors in
which Marlowe and other secret agents moved. For the austere manipulator of Marlowe and a myriad other players see Robert Hutchinson’s life of Sir Francis Walsingham,
Elizabeth’s Spymaster
(2006).

For the Gunpowder Plot see Antonia Fraser’s fast-paced
The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605
(1996). Though herself a Catholic, Lady Antonia is remarkably objective. Alan Haynes’
The Gunpowder Plot
(1994) deploys his expert knowledge of the subject; while James Travers’
Gunpowder: The Players Behind the Plot
(2005) uses documents from the National Archives to reveal the plotters’ motivations.

For the Overbury case, see William McElwee’s
The Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury
(1952), Beatrice White’s
Cast of Ravens
(1965), Edward le Comte’s
The Notorious Lady Essex
(1970), A. L. Rowse’s
Simon Forman
(1974) and David Lindley’s
The Trials of Frances Howard
(1993). Anne Somerset’s
Unnatural Murder: Poison at the Court of James I
(1997) is the best and most recent account of this quintessential case of Jacobean cruelty, conspiracy and corruption.

Chapter Thirteen: Great Escapes

For Ranulf Flambard see Frank Barlow’s
William Rufus
(1983).

For Roger Mortimer and Edward II see
The Greatest Traitor
by Ian Mortimer (2006).

For Sir John Oldcastle and the Lollards see
Actes and Monuments
– popularly known as
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs
(online) by John Foxe,
Sir John Oldcastle
by W. T. Waugh (1905) and
Sir John Fastolf
by Stephen Cooper (2010).

For John Gerard see
God’s Secret Agents
by Alice Hogge (op. cit., 2005) and Gerard’s own
Autobiography of an Elizabethan
, translated from the Latin by Philip Caraman SJ (1956).

For Edmund Nevill, see G. Abbott’s
Great Escapes from the Tower of London
(op. cit., 1982).

For William Seymour and Arbella Stuart see
Arbella Stuart: A Rival to the Queen
by David N. Durant (1978),
In the Shadow of the Throne: The Lady Arbella Stuart
by Ruth Norrington (2002) and
Arbella: England’s Lost Queen
by Sarah Gristwood (2003).

For Lord Capel see
Lord Capel, First Baron Capel of Hadham
by Ronald Hutton (
DNB
, 2004).

For John Lambert, see
Cromwell’s Generals
by Maurice Ashley (1954) and
John Lambert
by David Farr (2003).

For Lord Grey de Warke see
Sedgemoor 1685
(1985) by David Chandler and for Lord Nithsdale see
The Jacobites
by Daniel Szechi (1994).

Chapter Fourteen: Restoration Romps

The sparkling yet elusive and enigmatic personality and exciting and erotic life of Charles II has received more biographical attention than that of any other British king – with the possible exception of Henry VIII. Of the vast number of lives, these can be warmly recommended: Hesketh Pearson’s
Charles II: His Life and Likeness
(1960), Maurice Ashley’s
Charles II: King and Statesman
(1974),
Charles II
by Antonia Fraser (1979),
Charles II: Portrait of an Age
by Tony Palmer (1979),
Charles the Second
by Ronald Hutton (1989),
Charles II
by John Miller (1991) and
Royal Survivor
by Stephen Coote (1999).

For the Crown jewels see
The Jewel House
by George Younghusband (1921) and
Crown, Orb and Sceptre
by D. Hilliam (2003). For Thomas Blood see
Colonel Blood: The Man who Stole the Crown Jewels
by David C. Hanrahan (2003).

For Restoration politics and the radical underground see Alan Marshall,
Intelligence and Espionage in the Reign of Charles II
(1994) and
The Strange Death of Edmund Godfrey
(1999) by the same author. See also
The Popish Plot
by John Kenyon (1971).

For George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, see
Charles II and the Duke of Buckingham
by David C. Hanrahan (2006).

For Samuel Pepys, naturally consult the incomparable
Diary
(op. cit) itself, and
Pepys: A Biography
by Richard Ollard (1999).
Samuel Pepys: The Unqualified Self
by Claire Tomalin (2002) is an indispensable life; and
The Plot Against Pepys (2007)
by James and Ben Long examines in minute detail the reasons behind his confinement in the Tower.