The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen and the King's Mother

I am totally obsessed with Philippa Gregory’s Plantagenet/Cousins War and Tudor series! So this was just icing on the cake for me! I love how well researched she was, and this book peeks inside what she actually found and how she conducted everything from just that! It’s pure gold!!Bless this feminist novelist to dig up women’s stories, when so little was documented of them for being female and deemed “less important” historically... She gave them a voice by studying what she could find of them and filling in the blanks through her imagination. Her books are by their perspective.This book tells her creative journey through the research with the aid of two renowned historians.

I was truly excited when I saw that this book was available for order. The women of the cousin's war were, in my opinion, some of the most fascinating, intelligent, strong willed and motivated women of their time. My hope for the book was that it would elucidate the war in context with the women who played such an important role in the war.I was not disappointed from that perspective! Jcquetta, Duchess of Bedford, her daughter Elizabeth Woodville, the Queen (one of my favorite monarchs) and Margaret Beaufort, wife to Henry VII and mother to Henry VIII. I learned quite about about them and their familial relationships - which is what I wanted to understand more clearly. I found that this book really helped me sort out the myriad 'players' in this most important historical frame. Coincidentally, I was re-reading "Elizabeth, England's Slandered Queen" by Arlene Okerlund at the same time and that really helped me sort through the myriad inter-relationships that were a part of this remarkable, but unstable, time in England's history.I might have given this a 5 start had it all been more 'fleshed out' but as general introduction to these amazing women and their important roles in the long conflict that ruled their lives I found the book to be well worth the reading. It will remain in my "British History Library"!

Even though these women's names have shown up on the fringes of history, it is great to finally get an in depth look at the real impact they had on history. Even if we think we know a lot about the the mystery of the princes in the tower, or the Tudor years, without these women who set the stage, none of what we know would ever have happened. The War of the Roses didn't occur in isolation. Rivalries had gone on for generations, and the Duchess Jaquetta's story, helps link it back in time, as well as far from Britain itself. Without Margaret Beaufort's immense ambition, and slightly bizarre view of her importance to God, it could be said that the Tudor dynasty would never have happened at all. And Elizabeth Woodville is allowed to break our of the role of schemer and harpy that she is often cast. I couldn't put it down.

This was a most spectacular book. It gave me a perspective of the historical fiction/novel genre that I never had before. It proved a very valuable insight into these 3 women as well as the 3 authors and their processes. I would actually have liked to have read this first before I read all of the other Philippa Gregory books on my ancestors--these wonderful, powerful, insightful but forgotten women of the Cousins' War. The entire series of Philippa Gregory on all of the women of the era--that war--not just the Duchess, the Queen and the King's Mother are books that I will treasure forever and pass down to my children so that they may have a better understanding of their roots as well.

I really liked having 3 authors bring their insights and style of writing to this book... the women of the cousin's war were fascinating in their own right, and I esp. like the explanation of how scant historical documents leads to gaps filled in by educated fiction.

I thought it was a very well written and researched book. The different author's viewpoints were thorough and arranged well. It does a good job of fleshing out the possibilities of the characters but also readily admitting there are few primary sources and explaining why they think whats available supports their hypothesis. Unlike the many Alison Weir histories from the same time period, these authors do not try to constantly over compensate for lack of solid facts by giving meaningless historical facts that do not affect the characters (such as the price of every garment both in medieval and modern value)

I love Gregory's novels, but sometimes she seems to stray from historical accuracy. This time, she co-writes a serious, scholarly and eminently readable account of three remarkable, long-ignored women whose actions and loves shaped English (and world) history. These three women, through historic example, passed down the knowledge and tenacity needed for their decedent, Elizabeth I, to rule alone as a woman when no one thought it possible. Really wonderful non-fiction: a unique women's perspective to the Cousins' War.

I enjoyed reading the information and really appreciated the desire to provide correct information in a very interesting a readable format.

I am not just a devoted reader, I have been a journalist all my life. I never had an idol before but after 20 books of Gregory, which I have read, this one was a great lesson from a genuine author and extremely professional writer. I used it to prepare for an interview with Gregory but the book is like a guide to reading history, not just historical novels. I very much recommend it.

This is a study by three authors of three powerful figures in 15th century England during the latter stages of the Hundred Years War and throughout the conflict now known as the Wars of the Roses. The three figures are: Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, wife of Duke John who was English regent of France during the minority of Henry VI (by the popular historical novelist Philippa Gregory, who also provides an introduction to the overall book which contains some interesting ideas on the role of women in historiography); Elizabeth Woodville, Jacquetta's daughter and wife of Edward IV (by David Baldwin, who has written a full length biography of this subject); and Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII and who also lived to see her grandson Henry VIII accede to the throne and marry Katherine of Aragon (by Michael Jones, who has also written a full length biography of this subject).I thought Jones's piece on Margaret Beaufort was the best of the three, a well written and balanced account of the life and career of a remarkable and, by the standards of the time, long lived major figure, dying at the age of 66. From her tragic early experience of being impregnated by Edmund Tudor when she was only 12 and personally negotiating a second marriage when she was still not yet 14, she was an able and astute politician, ambitious for her only son, with whom she had a very close relationship throughout the 24 years of his reign.Baldwin offers a spirited and to me convincing defence of Elizabeth Woodville from many of the accusations of grasping ambition which are often thrown at her and her family, though in context, they were no worse than others who achieved prominence at this time.I thought Gregory's piece on Jacquetta was slightly less satisfactory (she has apparently written other history as well as historical novels, though I am not clear what other non-fiction she has written), but it offers a perspective on an important female figure who is less well known than the other two, but who nevertheless played a key role in the highest political circles in the middle part of the century.An interesting perspective on this crucial period of English history.

Philippa Gregory is an authoritative historian and an excellent author. She is able to transmit her knowledge clearly and in an interesting style to people who are interested in history but who are not historians themselves. I have been watching and enjoying "The White Queen" on BBC 1 and I also watched the factual programme presented by Philippa Gregory about the Cousins' War, so when I saw "The Women of the Cousins' War" I decided to buy it. It is informative, easy to read and relatively short. I recommend it to anyone who wants to deepen their knowledge of this period in history.I have not read any of Philippa Gregory's fiction but, when I get time, I will do so because I feel sure that the experience will be worthwhile.

I ordered this book after reading "The White Queen" because I felt that Philippa Gregory had embellished the history of Elizabeth Woodville a little too much in that particular novel. The 'Cousins' War' novels are good entertainment, but the real stories of Jaquetta of Luxemburg, Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort are so much more interesting than any fiction.This book consists of what are essentially three historical essays. Phililppa Gregory writes about Jaquetta, David Baldwin about Jaquetta's daughter Elizabeth, who was Queen Consort to Edward IV and Michael Jones tackles the life of Margaret Beaufort. Each writer has their own style and I rather like the fact that David Baldwin casts doubt on Philippa Gregory's version of how Elizabeth and Edward actually met. A very interesting book.

Having watched "The White Queen" and becoming intrigued with the turbulent fortunes of those seeking to acquire or retain power in this period of history, I was interested to know more about what facts supported the dramatisations. This book did not disappoint and presented what information was recorded about the participants of the drama that was life in and around royal courts of the time. Other possible interpretations of what it might have meant for the participants were also presented and the whole appears to be well referenced. The three parts, written by different authors, were all easy to read and presented the ideas in a way which meant I was eager to read on and continue their histories. I think that seeing the television dramatisation first helped as I was at least familiar with the names of the main participants. A weakness with the Kindle edition was that the trees of family relationships were difficult to see, but the index at the end, being electronically linked, allows for very quick access to the text where a particular topic or person was discussed. So, if you want to refresh your memory of where someone fits in, this makes it very easy. Altogether well worth reading.