HENRY VII AND THE TUDOR PRETENDERS: SIMNEL, WARBECK, AND WARWICK

◗ Nathen Amin

◗ Amberley Publishing (2021)

◗ £20

◗ 384 pages (Hardback)

◗ ISBN: 1445675080

◗ amberley-books.com

I started my ‘O Level’ history with Henry VII and got the classic tale of the miser king. This book sets the record straight giving a more rounded picture of Henry. By covering the pretenders it allows you to see a different side of the King. He was a man who at times ruled from horseback, sword in hand.

Some of the story I knew, (Simnel and his army marched down our lane as it was the only road from Piel castle heading inland. I suspect that daughters and livestock were hidden well away that week) and some of it was new.

By the nature of the story that the author has to tell, this book digs into the politics as well as the military background. So whilst with Simnel you get a fair proportion of military action to political action, with Warbeck, he spends far more time ricocheting from court to court. Whether he was drumming up support or merely trying to live the good life is moot. Certainly, as Nathen Amin portrays him, he fails utterly as a soldier.

All in all a fascinating book and one I enjoyed.