Wars of the Roses Books in Order

The Wars of the Roses series retells the dynastic conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York as a rolling, decades-long crisis rather than a string of isolated battles. Across four novels, Conn Iggulden follows kings, queens, nobles and commoners as England lurches from uneasy peace to outright civil war.

In Stormbird, a young, fragile Henry VI struggles to live up to the legend of his warrior father. His marriage to Margaret of Anjou, bought with hard-won English lands in France, triggers rebellions abroad and at home. The book moves from the royal court to the farms and towns that bear the brunt of policy, showing how lost taxes and abandoned garrisons translate into riots and marching rebels.

Trinity / Margaret of Anjou shifts the spotlight to the queen herself and to Richard, Duke of York, who acts as Protector while Henry’s mind fails. Their rivalry plays out in parliaments, private councils and back-room bargains long before swords are drawn. Figures like Warwick, Salisbury and the Nevilles emerge as power-brokers whose loyalties are flexible and costly.

In Bloodline, open war dominates. York has fallen, but his sons Edward, George and Richard pick up his banner. Snow-choked marches, brutal clashes and shifting alliances mark a campaign season in which two different men can claim to be king and each must convince lords, cities and mercenary captains to back him.

Ravenspur brings the conflict to its grim conclusion. Edward IV’s exile and audacious return, the brief Lancastrian restoration and the emergence of Henry Tudor all unfold against a background of chronic insecurity. The princes in the Tower, the making and unmaking of Richard III and the last desperate battles of the war are treated as human tragedies as much as political turning points.

Taken together, the books give you a vivid sense of how fragile medieval rule could be: a monarch’s illness, a bad harvest or one rash decision can topple a dynasty. Expect robust battle scenes, but also the quieter tensions of council tables, marriage negotiations and oaths that everyone knows may be broken when the wind changes.