Warwick the Kingmaker

by A.J. Pollard

Warwick the Kingmaker was a fifteenth-century celebrity; a military hero, self-publicist and populist. For twelve years, he was the arbiter of English politics, not hesitating to set up and put down kings. In the dominant strand of recent English historical writing, Warwick is condemned as a man who hindered the development of the modern state, and yet in earlier centuries he was admired as an exemplar of true nobility who defied the centralising tendencies of the crown. A. J. Pollard offers a fresh assessment, to which neither approach is entirely appropriate, of the man whose nickname has become synonymous with power broking.

"an illuminating and thought-provoking volume"
BBC History Magazine, 1 December 2007 --Sanford Lakoff

A.J. Pollard was professor of history at the University of Teesside until his retirement. His research focussed on the economic, social and political history of fifteenth-century England. His many books include Fifteenth-Century England, Richard III and the Princes in the Tower and The Wars of the Roses.

Preface; List of illustrations; Abbreviations; Introduction; Part One: Politics; Chapter 1: Premier Earl, 1428-55; Chapter 2: York's Lieutenant, 1455-60; Chapter 3: England's Caesar, 1460-65; Chapter 4: The Third King, 1465-71; Part Two: Power; Chapter 5: Estates and Finances; Chapter 6: Lordship and Loyalty: East Anglia and the West Midlands; Chapter 7: Lordship and Loyalty: the north; Chapter 8: Calais and the Keeping of the Seas; Part Three: Fame; Chapter 9: The Idol of the Multitude; Chapter 10: The Flower of Chivalry; Conclusion; Appendices; Bibliography.