An example of this is her discussion of Cecily Neville’s role in mending the breach between her sons Edward IV and the Duke of Clarence. Most distressing is that she treats some legitimate women’s issues with a light touch, not probing the events beyond the the barest political narrative.

Gristwood also does not explore fully some important issues that she brings up, such as alliances built among women “based on sisterhood and liking” (p. Instead, it appears with the second woman to give birth, Margaret Beaufort (p. The logical place to deal in-depth with the significance of childbirth would be when the author mentions the first birth on page 37.

For the Wars of the Roses with its inter-dynastic rivalry, the birth of a son was a necessary step for securing the future. An important part of these women’s lives was the act of giving birth because it represented a dangerous event that could result in the death of not just the child but the mother as well. Indeed, Gristwood’s examination of the women raises some questions. A lively debate about these women and the roles they played already exists. One of these is even entitled The Women of the Cousins’ War: The Duchess, the Queen, and the King’s Mother (2011), a study by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin, and Michael Jones. In total, Gristwood includes twenty-eight different sources with titles that clearly deal with these women, and several more that include these women in broader studies. If this were true, it would make this work an important part of the historiography, yet a quick look at the bibliography calls this into question. Gristwood’s goal is to situate these women in their rightful place within history, arguing that women have previously not been given due consideration. This is clearly a formidable group of women. Gristwood follows seven women from the Wars of the Roses: Margaret of Anjou, Cecily Neville, Margaret Beaufort, Ann Neville, Margaret of Burgundy, and Elizabeth Woodville and her daughter Elizabeth who would marry Henry VII.

Despite a valiant attempt and an interesting subject it comes up short on both accounts. Sarah Gristwood’s Blood Sisters: The Women b ehind the Wars of the Roses attempts to be both. History books can generally be divided into two categories: popular history and academic history. Blood Sisters: The Women behind the Wars of the Roses.

Blood sisters sarah