John Watts

This concise and interpretative book digs under the surface events of the Wars of the Roses to explore the underlying dynamics of a typical civil war. Beginning with a demonstration of why the well-worn storylines of the Wars are so misleading, it moves on to expose the pressure for reform that animated the conflict and helped to shape its outcomes. It continues by looking at the logics of division and the reasons why the Wars, once started, were so hard to resolve. It concludes by returning to debates long discussed by historians: the role of the economy in the conflict, and the interaction between English affairs and the politics of the British Isles and the near continent. Throughout, a central concern is to emphasise the fluidity and uncertainty of these civil wars: once authority broke down, anything could happen.

This volume offers a description of five well known artworks depicting the Crucifixion of Christ: The Crucifixion Panel of the Isenheim Altarpiece, France; The Golgotha of Jasna Gora, Poland; The Carfin Monstrance, Scotland; the San Damiano Cross, Italy; and the Moone High Cross, Ireland. The author has followed certain main themes from each work that seemed especially meaningful to him in expressing particular aspects of the Cross. Since each artwork is unique, each chapter has a different approach. Nonetheless, each links to the next, so that together they form a coherent whole. This volume is especially suited to Lenten reflections and may more widely even inspire the reader to visit one or more of the Crosses as a pilgrim.