Charles Ross presents Edward IV as an able and popular king who emerged from civil war to restore effective government. The book follows his victories for the House of York, first reign, exile and dramatic return in 1471, placing military success within the shifting alliances and personal loyalties of fifteenth-century politics.
Ross examines Edward’s relations with merchants, gentry and nobility, together with innovations in finance, administration and royal household management. The king’s marriage, court and conflicts with Warwick and Clarence are balanced against substantial political achievement, revealing the foundations on which early Tudor monarchy later built.