In the study of history, we tend to look at the beginning and the end of a battle and why they were fought. We rarely pay attention to the march that led to the battle, but when we do, there is a distinct reason why. One particular case is of Henry Tudor’s march to the Battle of Bosworth Field. It is a tale that started from his birth at Pembroke Castle to being an exile and then from an exile to being King of England. The story of how an exile became a king and founded the infamous Tudor dynasty deserves attention. Phil Carradice believed that it was time for the story of the first Tudor king and his march to destiny to be told in his latest book, “Following in the Footsteps of Henry Tudor: A Historical Journey From Pembroke to Bosworth”.

I would like to thank Pen and Sword Books for sending me a copy of this book. This is the second book in the “Following in the Footsteps” series that I have read, so I was cautiously optimistic. I wanted to learn more about Henry Tudor’s march to Bosworth and I certainly did in this book.

Carradice begins his book with a novel-like description of Henry, or “Harri”, and his uncle Jasper Tudor landing in Wales. As a reader, I was a bit confused about the direction that Carradice was taking by using this approach since this is a historical non-fiction book instead of historical fiction, but Carradice was able to tie it in nicely. He then explains, rather briefly, the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses and how England got to the point where it was Henry Tudor versus King Richard III for the throne. It is this information that is crucial for readers to understand Henry’s motive for claiming the throne and how it was an arduous task to achieve. It was in these early chapters that we see how Henry went from a regular boy to an exile who became a thorn in the side of the Yorkist Kings Edward IV and Richard III.

The bulk of Carradice’s book deals with what happens after Henry Tudor and his men land in Wales. He deals with issues of exactly where Henry landed and why the traditional place for the landing does not make a whole lot of sense. Carradice also takes on the legends that surrounded the different locations during the march and compared them to the facts that we do know about the march, primarily from Polydore Vergil. The one problem that I had with this book was that Carradice did not include a map of the march. I was not familiar with the locations, particularly the Welsh locations, so it was difficult to visualize the distances. What I did appreciate was the fact that as the battle approached, Carradice showed how both Henry and Richard III must have been feeling and how their decisions on that fateful day made all the difference.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It may be small, but it is rather mighty with all the information that it contains. Carradice’s writing style makes this book feel like a historical fiction novel with a plethora of information one expects from a historical nonfiction book. If you want a great introduction book to Henry Tudor’s march to Bosworth Field and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty, I highly recommend you read, “Following in the Footsteps of Henry Tudor: A Historical Journey From Pembroke to Bosworth” by Phil Carradice.