Table of Contents

List of maps; Abbreviations; Introduction; Part 1. Economy, Society and Government: The north-east in the fifteenth century; The regional economy before 1450; Landed society; Service: good lordship and retaining; Local government and administration; Lay piety: religious practice and belief; Gentility: the chase and chivalry; Part 2. War and Politics: Anglo-Scottish relations 1448-1485; Neville against Percy 1450-1455; Feud and civil war 1455-1461; The Neville
ascendancy 1461-1471; The hegemony of Richard of Gloucester 1471-1483; The reign of Richard III 1483-1485; The triumph of Henry VII 1485-1502; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index

Reviews

`a definitive history of the north east and its inhabitants during the Wars of the Roses ... splendid book ... while displaying a formidable scholarship throughout, he never ceases to be both readable and thought-provoking ... Such a bald and incomplete summary as that provided in these few paragraphs can in no way do justice either to A.J. Pollard's powerful thesis or his magnificent scholarship. '
Keith Dockray, The Ricardian, December 1991
`This is a wide-ranging survey ... the book works well as a regional study - itself a novel concept - and provides a great deal of interesting information, particularly on religious attitudes, the influence of the Border and the impact of agragrian crisis.'
Medium Aevum
`With the upsurge of interest in medieval regional history there will be warm welcome for Dr Pollard's massive survey of lay society, war and politics between 1450 and 1500. Dr Pollard's book ... is interesting, readable and important; it cries out for companion volumes on Northumberland and the Borders, not to mention the rest of Yorkshire, and who but Dr Pollard should undertake the task?'
G.C.F. Forster, University of Leeds, History, October 1992
`important regional study ... Dr Pollard makes telling use of the topography and local archives which he knows so well. At last County Durham receives proper treatment! There are good detailed discussions of local agriculture, the patronage of churches, younger sons, the chase, and the northerners' own response to their plantation by Richard III in the south. Local government is treated fully yet succinctly. There are valuabele new perspectives on the
formative role of Anglo-Scottish rellations, the start of the Percy-Neville feud ... a major contribution to our historical understanding.'
M.A. Hicks, King Alfred's College, Winchester, Northern History, Vol. XXVIII
'an inspiring enterprise ... Dr Pollard has produced a wide-ranging survey of the society and politics of the north-eastern counties, over a fifty-year period in which, he argues, the area exercised a major influence over national affairs.'
J.L. Watts, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, EHR Jun '94