A J Pollard – författare

'Edward was a man of considerable charm, who perhaps relied too much upon that charm to keep tensions within his entourage at bay' In 1461 Edward earl of March, a handsome, charismatic eighteen-year old, usurped the English throne during the first and most fierce of the Wars of the Roses. The years that followed witnessed a period that has been described as a golden age. Yet, argues A. J. Pollard, Edward was a man of limited vision, who squandered his talents and failed to secure his own dynasty.

In 1461 Edward earl of March, an able, handsome, and charming eighteen-year old, usurped the English throne from his feeble Lancastrian predecessor Henry VI. Ten years on, following outbreaks of civil conflict that culminated in him losing, then regaining the crown, he had finally secured his kingdom. The years that followed witnessed a period of rule that has been described as a golden age: a time of peace and economic and industrial expansion, which saw the establishment of a style of monarchy that the Tudors would later develop. Yet, argues A. J. Pollard, Edward, who was drawn to a life of sexual and epicurean excess, was a man of limited vision, his reign remaining to the very end the narrow rule of a victorious faction in civil war. Ultimately, his failure was dynastic: barely two months after his death in April 1483, the throne was usurped by Edward's youngest brother, Richard III.

This is the first modern scholarly study of north-eastern England during the Wars of the Roses. For a fleeting period in the late fifteenth century, the North dominated England: it was both the adopted home and the power base of Richard III. But this is more than simply an account of the rise and fall of the last Plantagenet as the Lord of the North. A. J. Pollard analyses regional politics and the interrelationship between province and centre from the beginning of the Neville-Percy feud in the 1450s to the establishment of Tudor authority by 1500. Themes explored include Anglo-Scottish relations, local government, the structure of landed society, the wealth, power, and the outlook of lords and gentry, and the economy of the region.Dr Pollard sets political history in the context of the period, and paints a detailed portrait of lay society, based on intensive research among local records. He shows that, contrary to some recent views, the North-East was in certain significant respects more feudal, more conservative and, by the early sixteenth century, poorer than the South-East of England.

A.J Pollard takes us back to the earliest surviving stories of Robin Hood, the stories, tales and ballads of the fifteenth century and he re-examines the story of this fascinating figure. Setting out the economic, social and political context of the time, Pollard illuminates the legend of this yeoman hero and champion of justice as never before.Imagining Robin Hood examines:* what a ‘yeoman’ was, and what it meant to a fifteenth-century Englishman* Was Robin Hood hunted as an outlaw, or respected as an officially appointed forest ranger?* Why do we ignore the fact that this celebrated hero led a life of crime?* Did he actually steal from the rich and give to the poor?Answering these questions, the book looks at how Robin Hood was ‘all things to all men’ since he first appeared; speaking to the gentry, the peasants and all those in between. The story of the freedom-loving outlaw tells us much about the English nation, but tracing back to the first stories reveals even more about the society in which the legend arose.An enthralling read for all historians and general readers of this fascinating subject.