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Historical person

Henry VI

1421–1471

Henry VI inherited the English throne as an infant in 1422 and was later crowned king of France, but his government lost most of the territories conquered by Henry V. Personally devout and interested in education, he suffered periods of mental incapacity that intensified factional struggles.

His marriage to Margaret of Anjou and the rival claim of Richard of York helped trigger the Wars of the Roses. Henry was deposed, briefly restored and killed in the Tower in 1471. Henry VI was born in Windsor Castle and died in Tower of London.

Derek Birks’ A Guide to the Wars of the Roses begins with Henry VI’s weak government and the factional rivalry that turned disputes over patronage and policy into dynastic war. Juliet Barker’s Conquest shows how the infant Henry inherited his father’s French kingdom and how regents struggled to preserve an enterprise already vulnerable to Valois recovery. Bertram Wolffe’s Henry VI argues that the king’s passivity and failures of judgement contributed materially to financial disorder, territorial loss and political breakdown rather than treating him only as a victim of stronger nobles. James Ross’ Henry VI (Penguin Monarchs) follows the same reign through mental collapse, deposition, restoration and death. A. W. Boardman’s St Albans 1455 reconstructs the first armed confrontation in which Henry’s unstable government became a battlefield struggle between Yorkist and royal forces.

Periods

Periods linked to Henry VI

Battle of Tewkesbury1471 CE Battle of Towton1461 CE Lancastrian England1399–1461 CE Readeption of Henry VI3 October 1470–11 April 1471 Wars of the Roses1455–1487 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Henry VI (13 series)

Struggle for a Crown in Order

by Griff Hosker 10 books 4.5(19,374)

Struggle for a Crown follows soldiers and retainers through the crises of late medieval England and France. The series moves from Richard II and Henry IV to Henry V, Agincourt, the later Hundred Years’ War and the struggle to hold English power in France. It is a dynastic…

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The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels in Order

by Philippa Gregory 16 books 4.4(140,052)

The Plantagenet and Tudor novels form a chronological sequence of connected but independently readable stories about women near the English throne. They move from the Lancastrian court and the Wars of the Roses through the rise of the Tudors, Henry VIII’s marriages, the mid-Tudor religious crisis and the…

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Wars of the Roses in Order

by Conn Iggulden 4 books 4.4(29,278)

The Wars of the Roses series follows the dynastic struggle from the weakness of Henry VI’s government through the rise of York, Edward IV’s victories and exiles, and the final contest between Richard III and Henry Tudor. The novels combine court politics with the major military turning points…

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Kingmaker in Order

by Toby Clements 4 books 4.4(5,254)

Kingmaker follows former monk Thomas Everingham and former nun Katherine as the Wars of the Roses break apart the religious, social and political order that once defined their lives. Beginning with their flight from a priory in 1460, the sequence carries them through Yorkist campaigns, the northern Lancastrian…

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House of York in Order

by Amy Licence 2 books 4.4(2,151)

The House of York series follows Edward of York from adolescence to kingship during the Wars of the Roses. It begins amid Henry VI’s recurring incapacity and Richard, Duke of York’s challenge to Lancastrian government, then traces the battles and family losses that bring the young Edward to…

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Catherine de Valois in Order

by Joanna Hickson 2 books 4.3(4,102)

The Catherine de Valois sequence follows the French princess from childhood at the unstable court of Charles VI to her marriage to Henry V and her later relationship with Owen Tudor. Both novels are narrated principally through Mette, a fictional servant and lifelong companion. The Agincourt Bride covers…

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The Tarnished Crown in Order

by C. F. Dunn 4 books 4.4(1,493)

The Tarnished Crown follows Isobel Fenton, later Isobel Langton, and Robert Langton through the political reversals of Edward IV’s reign. Beginning with Warwick’s rebellion in 1469, the series places their struggle for Beaumoncote Manor, marriage and family security inside the conflicts that divide the Yorkist court and repeatedly…

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Tudor Dynasty in Order

by Joanna Hickson 2 books 4.3(1,633)

The Tudor Dynasty sequence traces the family’s survival during the later Wars of the Roses. First of the Tudors centres on Jasper and Edmund Tudor, Margaret Beaufort and the protection of the young Henry Tudor after the collapse of Lancastrian power. The Tudor Crown continues with Henry in…

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The Wars of the Roses in Order

by Derek Birks 9 books 4.4(3,534)

The Wars of the Roses series follows the fictional Elder family through the dynastic conflicts that divided England between 1459 and 1485. Beginning with a private Yorkshire feud, the family is drawn into the struggle between Lancaster and York and repeatedly finds its survival tied to the fortunes…

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Morland Dynasty in Order

by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 36 books 4.4(27,265)

The Morland Dynasty is a thirty-six-book family saga tracing the fictional Morlands of Yorkshire from 1434 to the approach of the Second World War. Beginning with the marriage of Robert Morland and Eleanor, a ward of the Beaufort family, the sequence follows successive generations as Morland Place grows…

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The Tudor Trilogy in Order

by Tony Riches 3 books 4.2(11,505)

The Tudor Trilogy traces the dynasty from its unlikely origins to the establishment of Henry VII’s monarchy. Owen begins with the Welsh courtier Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois, whose secret relationship creates the family from which the Tudor claim will emerge. Jasper follows their son Jasper Tudor…

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The Tudor Saga in Order

by David Field 6 books 4.3(5,279)

The Tudor Saga recounts the dynasty from Henry VII’s exile and victory in the Wars of the Roses to the final years of Elizabeth I. Historical rulers, ministers and royal relatives occupy the centre of the sequence, while fictional attendants and agents reveal how decisions at court affect…

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York Family Novels in Order

by Anne Easter Smith 6 books 4.1(16,252)

The York Family Novels are six overlapping biographical novels about the House of York during the Wars of the Roses and the opening of Tudor rule. Each book centres on a different historical or lightly documented figure—Kate Haute, Margaret of York, Grace Plantagenet, Cecily Neville, Jane Shore and…

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Standalone books

Standalone books featuring Henry VI (8 books)

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring Henry VI (12 books)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.