TY - BOOK AU - Pollard,A.J. TI - Edward IV: the summer king T2 - Penguin monarchs SN - 9780141978697 U1 - 920 PY - 2016/// CY - [London] PB - Allen Lane KW - Edward KW - Great Britain KW - History KW - Edward IV, 1461-1483 KW - Biography KW - Kings and rulers N2 - In 1461 Edward earl of March, a handsome eighteen-year old of massive charisma and ability, usurped the English throne from his vacant 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 strong monarchy that the Tudors would make their own. Yet, argues A. J. Pollard, Edward, who squandered his undoubted talents in a frenzy 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, his young son and heir was usurped by Edward's youngest brother, Richard III ER -