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The Battle of Towton in North Yorkshire, fought during the Wars of the Roses, was reputedly the bloodiest battle ever seen on English soil. In 1996 a mass grave of soldiers was discovered there by chance. This was the catalyst for a multi-disciplinary research project, still unique in Britain ten years after the initial discovery, which included a study of the skeletal remains, the battlefield landscape, the historical evidence and contemporary arms and armour. The discoveries were dramatic and moving; the individuals had clearly suffered traumatic deaths and subsequent research highlighted the often multiple wounds each individual had received before and, in some cases, after they had died. As well as the exciting forensic work the project also revealed much about medieval weaponry and fighting. Blood Red Roses contains all the information about this fascinating discovery, as well as discussing its wider historical, heritage and archaeological implications. The second edition features new chapters by a re-enactor and a history teacher, which apply the research from the initial study to produce a veritable 'living history'.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
This book has a fantastic level of detail with regards to the men found in the mass grave at Towton and is nice to see a thorough and highly detailed archaeological book available for the mass market.
Information on the weapons and armour available was also useful though I would have enjoyed seeing some of the primary sources myself (the Bridport muster roll for example.)
Boardmans' history of the battle and events surrounding it was also nicely pitched and informative. I would have quite enjoyed at least a cautious attempt at interpreting the nature of the mass grave and the events that overwhelmed the men there but respect the decison to limit this less scientific avenue of enquiry. I did however get the impression that there had been other academic work done that was not being presented here.
Articles on battle field archaeology were also very rewarding and highlight the rather fragile nature of battlefield preservation.
I was less impressed with the article on combat techniques (which didn't seem to be linked with the archaeology of the site) and was quite uniformative. I found the article on reenactment quite irrelevant in an academic book and would have liked rather more detail in the section on using the battlefield to teach history.
However these really are minor quibbles and the book really should be in the collection of all people interested in history or western martial arts.
Information on the weapons and armour available was also useful though I would have enjoyed seeing some of the primary sources myself (the Bridport muster roll for example.)
Boardmans' history of the battle and events surrounding it was also nicely pitched and informative. I would have quite enjoyed at least a cautious attempt at interpreting the nature of the mass grave and the events that overwhelmed the men there but respect the decison to limit this less scientific avenue of enquiry. I did however get the impression that there had been other academic work done that was not being presented here.
Articles on battle field archaeology were also very rewarding and highlight the rather fragile nature of battlefield preservation.
I was less impressed with the article on combat techniques (which didn't seem to be linked with the archaeology of the site) and was quite uniformative. I found the article on reenactment quite irrelevant in an academic book and would have liked rather more detail in the section on using the battlefield to teach history.
However these really are minor quibbles and the book really should be in the collection of all people interested in history or western martial arts.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
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The book is really a set of academic papers (each in a different speciality) that aim to add to our knowledge of British medieval warfare and the battle of Towton in particular. The focus of the analysis is a mass grave found at the battle site with the text going perhaps unnecessarily deeply into the methodology of excavation, bone analysis etc. and producing some rather confusing results.
Some questions are; Why were the men a mile from the centre of the battle? Why did they have mostly front facing head wounds and very few lower body injuries? Why was so little recovered from the battle site, especially since the few arrow heads found were so well preserved?
The authors make a good presentation of the usually neglected common soldier showing his physical condition (from this small sample) and leaning heavily on the unique "Bridport Muster Roll" for typical 15th century arms and equipment. This says that 25% of the recruits arrived with shields (bucklers and pavises) but the book curiously attributes the lack of lower body wounds entirely to various types of body armour. Equally the strong left arm elbow bone structure is attributed to holding a longbow without considering that it could be caused by shield use. In maneuvers I've tried with a true weight medieval shield I found it very hard on the arm and elbow.
Some questions are; Why were the men a mile from the centre of the battle? Why did they have mostly front facing head wounds and very few lower body injuries? Why was so little recovered from the battle site, especially since the few arrow heads found were so well preserved?
The authors make a good presentation of the usually neglected common soldier showing his physical condition (from this small sample) and leaning heavily on the unique "Bridport Muster Roll" for typical 15th century arms and equipment. This says that 25% of the recruits arrived with shields (bucklers and pavises) but the book curiously attributes the lack of lower body wounds entirely to various types of body armour. Equally the strong left arm elbow bone structure is attributed to holding a longbow without considering that it could be caused by shield use. In maneuvers I've tried with a true weight medieval shield I found it very hard on the arm and elbow.
This book is a collection of essays about the battlefield site, the progress of the battle, the discovery of the mass graves, the techniques used to examine the bones and the findings. There are also chapters on medieval armour, weapons and warfare.
About half of the book is perfectly geared to the armchair historian as it explains which contemporary and later accounts are most credible and how the day of battle most likely played out. There's plenty of maps too to orient those who don't know the lay of the land. The description of the amazing dig the team managed to complete within just seven days is fascinating and will delight anyone who enjoys watching Time Team or Meet The Ancestors on television. The context of how few mass graves are comparable to Towton is well explained as well. The sections on weapons and warfare are excellent for putting the injuries suffered by the combatants into perspective and showing examples of weapons now in places like The Royal Armouries.
The remainder of the book is harder work, consisting of analysis of the skeletons and their injuries. Little plain English is used, mostly it is in complicated scientific phrasing which requires a lot of unravelling. If you're not an osteoarchaeologist or pathologist you are likely to find yourself skim-reading some of it to get to the summaries. I understood most of it, I think, but it took me much longer to read and I did find myself wishing it was more in keeping with the other chapters for readability with more shoulder blades and less scapulas.
Overall though this is a fascinating book and I will be buying a copy for myself. The Towton excavation is unique in English archaeology and this book is, for the most part, a fantastic and unique attempt to showcase everything learnt by the archaeologists on that dig.
About half of the book is perfectly geared to the armchair historian as it explains which contemporary and later accounts are most credible and how the day of battle most likely played out. There's plenty of maps too to orient those who don't know the lay of the land. The description of the amazing dig the team managed to complete within just seven days is fascinating and will delight anyone who enjoys watching Time Team or Meet The Ancestors on television. The context of how few mass graves are comparable to Towton is well explained as well. The sections on weapons and warfare are excellent for putting the injuries suffered by the combatants into perspective and showing examples of weapons now in places like The Royal Armouries.
The remainder of the book is harder work, consisting of analysis of the skeletons and their injuries. Little plain English is used, mostly it is in complicated scientific phrasing which requires a lot of unravelling. If you're not an osteoarchaeologist or pathologist you are likely to find yourself skim-reading some of it to get to the summaries. I understood most of it, I think, but it took me much longer to read and I did find myself wishing it was more in keeping with the other chapters for readability with more shoulder blades and less scapulas.
Overall though this is a fascinating book and I will be buying a copy for myself. The Towton excavation is unique in English archaeology and this book is, for the most part, a fantastic and unique attempt to showcase everything learnt by the archaeologists on that dig.
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