Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The War Of The Roses

Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The War Of The Roses by Sarah Gristwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As much as I don't like Philippa Gregory's works and their totally inaccurate stance on history, there is one thing that she did right: she revived general interest in British history, including some periods of time that, despite their obvious drama and spectacular events, were not really that familiar to people that were not history geeks. I am referring, of course, to the Wars of the Roses, which is my favorite subject in history for various reasons (I cannot think of any other period of time so rich in drama, spectacular turns of events and twists and turns that would make any movie script writer envious - with the added bonus that they all actually happened).

This book is obviously inspired by Philippa Gregory's books and, if you have read them or watched The White Queen two years ago and have become interested in what the reality behind the fiction is, this could be read as a historian's guide to them. Every little detail in those books is addressed to show what the real event behind it was.

However, the book has the added bonus of not being as biased as Ms Gregory, who has a strong Yorkist stance in her books. The book juggles between the traditional historian view of things, that is more supported by the general evidence, and the more imaginative theories that Ricardians generally tend to have. It touches on both of them and offers no clear verdict between them, which is something I like. As such, the book will please the Ricardians in the sense that it touches on all their theories and leaves an air of mystery about them (as in "they could be true") but can also please the more traditional historian who may want more hard proof before believing the Ricardian theories.

If you are a hardcore history fan, this may seem like light reading - and, indeed, I think it is more addressed towards the general masses rather than the history students and teachers. It is, however, sufficiently accurate to not have you gritting your teeth if you are in the second category.

Generally, I would recommend it for people who may not have much knowledge on the period but want to expand on it.

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