Amy Licence - (Amerberley Press), 2013

256 pp., £20 hard, ISBN 978-1-4456-0961-4

Elizabeth of York was the wife of Henry VII and the mother of the dynasty with three of her children becoming monarchs in their own right: Henry VIII succeeded his father; Margaret became Queen of Scotland and Mary Queen of France.  Her direct descedents include three Tudor monarchs, two executed queens and ultimately the Stuart royal family.  Despite this, Elizabeth remains the least known of the Tudor consorts.

The daughter of Edward IV, her upbringing was rooted in the medieval world and during the internecine disputes between Lancastrians and Yorkists where her expectation was a tactical and dynastic marriage to strengthen the Yorkist position.  Elizabeth's position was threatened by the Yorkist reversal of fortune between 1469 and 1471 during the readaption of Henry VI and especially during the reign of her uncle Richard between 1483 and 1485 but she survived to marry the victor of Bosworth.  Seen as a devoted wife and venerated for his docility and beauty, she was far more than merely decorative in the reign of Henry VII.  This very accessible book with good colour illustrations brings Elizabeth to the centre of the Tudor project.