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Historian’s book with David Starkey introduction recounts Britain’s bloodiest battle at Towton
AUTHOR: George Goodwin, who walked the battle field.
A NEW BOOK about England’s bloodiest ever battle, which was near Sherburn, is out this week.
Historian George Goodwin’s book Fatal Colours explains the Battle of Towton, in which an incredible 28,000 men were killed in just 10 hours of utter brutality in March, 1461.
The battle was a decisive one in the War of the Roses. Around 40,000 Yorkists – who were mainly from the South – faced 60,000 Lancastrians, many of whom would have been drawn from our area. Each army hated the other.
The Yorkists, with the wind behind them, fired their arrows into the Lancastrian forces. The Lancastrians, taking heavy losses, charged the Yorkists through the hail of arrows but were routed and tried to escape across the Cock Beck where they were massacred. In all, 20,000 Lancastrians were killed.
Author George Goodwin said: “It was the most important event in English history.”
It had the immediate effect of replacing Henry VI with the Yorkist Edward IV.
It showed that monarchs, previously thought to have a “divine right” to rule as the embodiment of God, were mortal and could be deposed.
Graham Darbyshire, of the Towton Battlefield Society, who walked the battlefield with Mr Goodwin, said: “It’s a very readable book. George wanted to understand how the battle played out. The battlefield is still very atmospheric.”
Mr Goodwin added: “The Towton Battlefield Society is doing a marvellous job. There is a battlefield trail, and a visitor centre at the nearby Rockingham Arms.”
And we’ve got six Fatal Colours books to give away. To enter our competition, tell us on which religious day each year is the battle commemorated by the society.
Send your answer, together with your name, address and daytime phone number, to: Fatal Colours competition, Selby Times, 74-76 Gowthorpe, Selby YO8 4ET. Closing date is February 22 2012. Usual Selby Times rules apply.
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