The Road to Civil War

England, 1450. The empire won by Henry V is collapsing, the royal treasury is exhausted, and confidence in the government of Henry VI is disappearing.The loss of Normandy brings defeated soldiers, dispossessed landowners and unpaid creditors back to a kingdom already troubled by corruption, local violence and political mistrust. William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, becomes the target of public fury, but his removal and murder fail to restore confidence in the Crown. Within months, Jack Cade's rebels are marching from Kent and entering London in the name of reform.Into this deepening crisis returns Richard, Duke of York. A powerful prince with vast estates and a formidable claim by blood, York demands the removal of the king's unpopular advisers. His rivalry with Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, transforms a dispute over failed government into a struggle for honour, security and survival.When Henry VI suffers a devastating mental collapse, England is left with a living king who cannot rule. York becomes Protector of the Realm, Margaret of Anjou fights to defend the inheritance of her young son, and the Neville and Percy families bring their private conflict into national politics.The First Battle of St Albans proves that possession of the king can be won by force. Attempts at reconciliation fail as blood debts, confiscations and dynastic fear divide the nobility.From the fall of Normandy and Jack Cade's rebellion to Ludford Bridge, Northampton and the Act of Accord, The Road to Civil War explains how political failure carried England into the opening phase of the Wars of the Roses.This is Book Six in The Last Plantagenets, a ten-volume narrative history of England from the Peasants' Revolt to the end of the Plantagenet dynasty.

England, 1450. The empire won by Henry V is collapsing, the royal treasury is exhausted, and confidence in the government of Henry VI is disappearing.The loss of Normandy brings defeated soldiers, dispossessed landowners and unpaid creditors back to a kingdom already troubled by corruption, local violence and political mistrust. William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, becomes the target of public fury, but his removal and murder fail to restore confidence in the Crown. Within months, Jack Cade's rebels are marching from Kent and entering London in the name of reform.Into this deepening crisis returns Richard, Duke of York. A powerful prince with vast estates and a formidable claim by blood, York demands the removal of the king's unpopular advisers. His rivalry with Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, transforms a dispute over failed government into a struggle for honour, security and survival.When Henry VI suffers a devastating mental collapse, England is left with a living king who cannot rule. York becomes Protector of the Realm, Margaret of Anjou fights to defend the inheritance of her young son, and the Neville and Percy families bring their private conflict into national politics.The First Battle of St Albans proves that possession of the king can be won by force. Attempts at reconciliation fail as blood debts, confiscations and dynastic fear divide the nobility.From the fall of Normandy and Jack Cade's rebellion to Ludford Bridge, Northampton and the Act of Accord, The Road to Civil War explains how political failure carried England into the opening phase of the Wars of the Roses.This is Book Six in The Last Plantagenets, a ten-volume narrative history of England from the Peasants' Revolt to the end of the Plantagenet dynasty.