Perkin
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Perkin for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Another extraordinary work of history by the author of Pilate.
Product Description
The story of Perkin Warbeck is one of the most compelling mysteries of English history. A young man suddenly emerged claiming to be Richard of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower. As such, he tormented Henry VII for eight years. He tried three times to invade England and behaved like a prince. Officially, however, he was proclaimed to be Perkin Warbeck, the son of a Flemish boatman. A diplomatic pawn, he was used by the greatest European rulers of the age for their own purposes. All who dealt with him gave him the identity they wished him to have: either the Duke of York or a jumped-up lad from Flanders. It is possible that he was neither. It is also possible that, by the end, even he did not really know who he was. In Perkin Ann Wroe tells again a marvellous tale that is on the brink of being forgotten. She also dissects the official cover story. In doing so she delves into the secret corners of European history and produces a portrait of the late fifteenth century that is breathtaking in its detail.--'Extraordinary-Perkin is a masterclass in how biography can breathe life into the darkest and most inert pockets of the past' Guardian --'An unforgettable book-. The best book I have ever reviewed in these pages' Mail on Sunday--'Gripping-With Perkin, Wroe has breathed new life into an obscure figure' Daily Mail--'A book that captures the temper of an age' Financial Times--'Rewards every moment of attention' Sunday Telegraph--'Enthralling-A triumph' Scotsman--'One of the best books I have read on the Middle Ages' New Statesman--'Colourful, engaged and engaging' Independent on Sunday (20030623)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Probably the best historical biography I've ever read, bar none, and the fact that it's about a figure as shadowy and mysterious as Perkin Warbeck/Richard, Duke of York only makes it more impressive. The book really brings the medieval world to life through Wroe's wonderful writing - she doesn't just write about what people did, what they ate, what they wore, but how they would have thought and felt. She never comes down to a side as to whether 'Perkin' really was the son of Edward IV or a boatman from Tournai, which in my opinion makes this a better book, because it is impossible to know. Any historian who claims otherwise is deluded. Was Perkin really one of the Princes in the Tower? We'll never know, but I like to think that maybe he was.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ann Wroe has written a fabulous book, bringing to life the personalities and politics of the Middle Ages, and given the relative lack of primary sources at her disposal, has done well to flesh out this story to the extent that she has. As mentioned in other reviews here, she is to be congratulated on her extensive use of contemporary European sources which show a very different view of the Pretender to the usual English sources.
Engish sources were sure of the Warbeck story from as early as 1493, but Europeans were far less sure, and Wroe shows European monarchs such as Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian and Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella referring to Richard as the Duke or even as the King of England until a late date - and in Maximillian's case, until the end of his life. Whilst various European rulers certainly had political reasons for supporting a pretender, and may have known that this one was an imposter, their correspondence gives no clue of such knowledge; at times there was doubt and uncertainty as to whether he was Richard of York but they also had doubts that he was Perkin Warbeck. And in the case of Maximillian, Wroe shows him attempting to intevene to save Richard's life long after any political advantage could possibly have been gained from it - not something the Holy Roman Emperor would generally do for boatmen's sons from Tournai.
Wroe is also excellent at sorting the surviving documents and references into the possibly / probably accurate and those constructed or amended for propaganda and political purposes and is good at emphasising the likely sub texts in all of these, including Perkin's Confession which she demonstates to have been, at the very least, amended by other parties
I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about a great story and interesting footnote to English history. But be warned - Wroe, probably wisely, does not attempt to come to a conclusion about Perkin Warbeck's identity despite some sources (such as Wikipedia) stating that she thinks Warbeck actually was Richard of York. Rather , Wroe shows that even now we can't be sure who he was - and perhaps its not important.
Perhaps the story is better read as a conflict between 2 constructed identities - the Richard, Duke of York identity constructed by disaffected Yorkists and the Perkin Warbeck identity constructed by Henry VII and his supporters. Probably he was neither of these people but Wroe shows why it was that the Perkin identity became accepted, depite its flaws, and how close he came to reaching the tipping point of being accepted as Richard of York.
Engish sources were sure of the Warbeck story from as early as 1493, but Europeans were far less sure, and Wroe shows European monarchs such as Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian and Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella referring to Richard as the Duke or even as the King of England until a late date - and in Maximillian's case, until the end of his life. Whilst various European rulers certainly had political reasons for supporting a pretender, and may have known that this one was an imposter, their correspondence gives no clue of such knowledge; at times there was doubt and uncertainty as to whether he was Richard of York but they also had doubts that he was Perkin Warbeck. And in the case of Maximillian, Wroe shows him attempting to intevene to save Richard's life long after any political advantage could possibly have been gained from it - not something the Holy Roman Emperor would generally do for boatmen's sons from Tournai.
Wroe is also excellent at sorting the surviving documents and references into the possibly / probably accurate and those constructed or amended for propaganda and political purposes and is good at emphasising the likely sub texts in all of these, including Perkin's Confession which she demonstates to have been, at the very least, amended by other parties
I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about a great story and interesting footnote to English history. But be warned - Wroe, probably wisely, does not attempt to come to a conclusion about Perkin Warbeck's identity despite some sources (such as Wikipedia) stating that she thinks Warbeck actually was Richard of York. Rather , Wroe shows that even now we can't be sure who he was - and perhaps its not important.
Perhaps the story is better read as a conflict between 2 constructed identities - the Richard, Duke of York identity constructed by disaffected Yorkists and the Perkin Warbeck identity constructed by Henry VII and his supporters. Probably he was neither of these people but Wroe shows why it was that the Perkin identity became accepted, depite its flaws, and how close he came to reaching the tipping point of being accepted as Richard of York.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you think you know the story of Perkin Warbeck read this book. If you don't know Perkin's story, read this book. Dr Wroe's prose floats beautifully, and her knowldge astounds. Source material from all over Europe is given, much of it never previously related by Anglo-centric English historians, and the true European dimension of the question of the death of the Plantagenet dynasty is brought to the fore. At the centre of it is this poor, deluded boy, a pawn in many people's games, who probably did not know by the end of it whether he was the son of the king of England or a boatman from Flanders. All he knew was that he had to pretend to be the person his supporters wanted him to be, the person whom his enemies would kill. That we should come to sympathise with a man who is constantly dismissed by historians as a political fake is a triumph. Historians should heed the fact that a character can emerge from the shadows of professional disparagement, and stand proud in what is, simply, a fantastic story.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Bluff and Double Bluff
In terms of an academic piece of historical research this work cannot be faulted. The thing that left me somewhat disappointed after reading 473 pages was that I was none the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. George P. Algar
Only read when entirely sober
The author of this book has clearly researched the topic to the Nth degree, and the result is a very informed in-depth study. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Historyboy
Perkin - a 15th century "Anastasia case"?
The rightful king of England, a lost prince or just a boy trained to be a prince? Ann Wroe`s book leads us deep into the world of the end of the 15th century, when England passed... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2010 by Amelrode
Disappointing and dull
It has taken me a month to plough my way through this book, which is far too long and could easily be 250-300 pages instead of 500. Read more
Published on 8 May 2009 by John Hopper
Interesting but sometimes hard work
While the Stuart 'pretenders' later in history - especially Bonnie Prince Charlie - are studied by many, the Plantagenet pretenders, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck are consigned... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2004 by C. Winston
The Great Pretender.
I admit I bought the book with no great hopes for it - was there anything useful to be written about this man? Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2004 by "lovegoats"
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > Military
- Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Europe
- Books > Biography > Political > Britain
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > British Heads of State > Henry I
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > British Heads of State > Henry V
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > British Heads of State > Henry VII
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Ireland
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Norman and Medieval 1001-1500
- Books > History > Europe > Vikings, Dark Ages, Medieval Europe 501-1500
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
