Rating: 
Summary: A gripping and intriguing read
Review: From 1455 to 1487, England was torn apart in a conflict that pitted a kaleidoscope of magnates, aristocrats and power-players against one another. Symbolized by the roses that represented the two royal families (York and Lancaster), this war was all about power, vengeance and position. This wonderful book begins in the 1300s, with the roots of the conflict, showing the roots of the war, and who fought it and why.I must say that it is one of the most fascinating and informative history books I have read in a while. The era that the book discusses has it all - murder, intrigue, battle, betrayal, vengeance, infidelity, murder, and much more. And, as it should be, the author takes this era, and weaves its history into a gripping and intriguing read. Overall, I found this to be a great book, and I highly recommend it to you.
Rating: 
Summary: Great reading but end too quickly...
Review: I can say nothing but huge amount of praises for Allison Weir's War of the Roses. Its superbly readable, entertainingly fun and quite educational. But why would an author of her scholarship end the account of the War of the Roses at Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471? This is supposed to be a book on the War of the Roses, right? Its like writing a book on World War II and ending it at Stalingrad and Fall of Tunis in first half of 1943!! I read Weir's Princes in the Tower and that book is more like an investigation of their death and the blame. War of the Roses stuff were basically background material. So it can't be considered as "second volume" of this book. Since anyone who knows anything about War of Roses knows that the war "officially" ended with Battle of Bosworth in 1485 which saw the fall of Richard Plantagent to Henry Tudor which resulted in the total change of the royal line (even if they are all related in one ways or another), this book should have gone on that point. Weir probably thought that after Tewkesbury, there wasn't much going on military wise for 14 years until Bosworth but politics can be considered as a form of warfare back then and there were a lot of that going on to make War of the Roses one of the more interesting military conflicts in history. But until she stopped, Weir does a very good job and maybe, she can write a real "second volume" of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: An Historical Mess
Review: I cannot say I didn't learn a lot from this rendition of one of the most confusing times in English history; indeed, I learned a great deal. I learned that this was not one war but several, and that the wars were spread out over years, not occurring over one limited span of time. I learned a great deal about the personalities behind the conflicts and found this to be quite the bridge between the Hundred Year's War (as read in A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman, I highly recommend it) and the Tudor years, which has held many historians, both profissional and armchair, like myself, enthralled. This time is a turning point in history, as the feudal system and the Middles Ages fade and the Renaissance takes over. But I had the hardest time maintaining my interest in the book. Part of the problem is mentioned by other reviewers; the English habit of referring to nobility by their titles as opposed to their names is just plain confusing. I frequently referred to the difficult to read lineages in the back, and several times thought of just pulling them out so I could refer to them without losing my place. I found it difficult to maintain the sense of history for the families that Weir had gone to great pains to describe. I often found myself flipping back to review. It is also a difficult to understand period of time; I forget sometimes that people of the time think differently from modern humankind. Although I am interested in learning more, I am doubtful that I will read The Princes in the Tower. Instead, I believe that I will stick with Antonia Fraser.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't start with this Alison Weir book
Review: I really enjoy learning about British history - and Alsison Weir does a great job. I did find, however, that The Wars of the Roses was the most complicated of her books that I have read. I believe this is because she almost has too much information and tries to share it all. Additionally, the names of people become very confusing in that people take on the names of their title. For example a man would be the Duke of York, then when he died, his son would be the Duke of York. Weir would say "York..." and it would be tough to know whether or not the switch had happened, and because there may be more than 2 people with this name through out the book, it serves to require a lot of effor to understand who was who, while reading the book. The charts at the back help, but again, it would have been nice to have a little more information to make the story easier to follow. Overall I find Alison Weir to be a great teller of history, but I were a new reader to this, I would start with The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
Rating:
Summary: This is highly recommendable reading for history buffs
Review: I really liked Alison Weir's account of the first War of the Roses. She did a good job portraying events in English history that I've always found quite interesting. Thanks to her book, I've learned a lot of truth about a period in history that's filled with the stuff of legend. In my high school class we read either Shakespeare's "Richard II" or "Richard III." I went on to read all the "Henry" plays on my own before I stumbled upon a true nonfictional, historical account of what was going on in those plays. Anyone who's read the history plays by Shakespeare should consider taking Alison Weir's book home to develop a better understanding of the great playwright's work.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining!
Review: I was tied to it. Read it very quick and will read it a second time. Good writing.
Rating:
Summary: Very thorough coverage of the English Civil War
Review: I'm very interested in history, buy my interests tend to be centered on American history. So this book was quite a change for me. The book covers, in great detail, the English civil war between the Lancasters and the Yorks. It gives a very thorough background on what led up to the war, starting with the reign of Richard II and up to the final battle when Edward IV finally defeats the supporters of Henry VI. But it's not just about battles. It also shows the shifting alliances, the court intrigues, and all the other machinations that went on behind the actual fighting. As the book says, the total battle campaigns only lasted about a year out of the total thirty-years of war. I found the book interesting, however it was slow going at times. As other interviewers have mentioned, the author many times uses a person's title instead of their name. Then, at other times she uses the name. This can make it very difficult to figure out who she's talking about. I suspect part of the problem may have been my unfamiliarity with English history. But I was able to persevere and I've learned a great deal. Would I recommend this book? Yes. Are there better books out there dealing with this period? I don't know. However, the author does make the period interesting even though she has a great deal of information to impart. Most readers of history would not find this book daunting.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely thorough (which is good and bad)
Review: In terms of her attention to detail, the author has clearly done a thorough job. However, I've read much (if not all) of Weir's work (concerning Eleanor of of Aquitaine, Princes in Tower, wives and kids of Henry the VIII, and Elizabeth I), and I had to *push* myself through this one. I don't know how much of this is her fault, and how much of it is the fault of the Yorkists who were slow in finally eliminating Henry VI as a challenge to the throne- at one point I thought "I'm gonna kill Henry myself if nobody else does soon." It is a taxing read and while I really enjoyed the other books, this one was more frustrating. The reversals of fortune were particularly frustrating- for example on one page, Jaspar Tudor has the title to Pembroke, which is stripped from him, given to somebody else who is called Pembroke repeatedly but then is killed about two pages later and the name of Pembroke is given back to Jaspar Tudor. So on one page, the name Pembroke is for the House of Lancaster, but then any reference to "Pembroke" means the guy is for the house of York, and then when it switches back to Jaspar, Pembroke is pro-Lancaster again-- So at some point you think to yourself, "Wait, why is Pembroke for Edward- I thought he liked Henry... Oh yeah..." One wonders why (for the sake of clarity)- Jaspar Tudor just can't be called Jaspar Tudor throughout. She is accurate, but at some point I wish clarity had become a priority. While this is a complaint that I and others have had about all of Weir's (and other historians' books), it's particularly troublesome here because of the vast number of people involved, as well as the number of years that it covers. If you are interested in the wars of the roses or the succession of the British monarchy, please, by all means get this book. My primary purpose in this recommendation is to set your expectations- I'm very glad I read the thing- I just wish I'd known what a task it would be. Reading this book is like going to the gym- I don't actually like doing it, but I like having done it.
Rating:
Summary: The Story Behind "Kingmaker"
Review: It was facinating after playing the game "Kingmaker" as a teenager to finally read the story behind the game. This is a well written, detailed account of the first half of the wars, yet it does not get bogged down. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of English Royalty or students of the late Middle Ages. It also puts a couple of Shakespeare's plays (Henery V and Richard III) into perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent primer for 15th century English politics
Review: Loved it. From the terrific introduction and examination of common life in 15th century England to the superb "road map" of events weaving through the dynastic wars, it grabs interest and holds it. Few history books can I "not put down". This was one of 'em. It's a complex topic, and Weir neither panders nor assumes too much of the reader. Buy two copies. I wore my first one out.
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