The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century, by Desmond Seward (HC, 1995, $2.50)
Here is the story of the House of the White Rose, and the House of the Red Rose, the rival dynasties of York and Lancaster, and their 30 years of war and slaughter.
In actuality the Yorks did have a rose on their shield, but the Lancasters did not. "Only under Henry VII did the red rose become the Lancastrian badge, retrospectively: to facilitate the pretty conceit of the Tudor Rose- part red, part white, symbolizing the merciful union between the two dynasties which had brought peace to a distracted land."
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 9/16.
