England's Bears

The dramatic story of the House of Warwick, a thousand-year dynasty that shaped the fate and fortunes of England

'A stunning debut.' - Tracy Borman

In the late autumn of 1499, the Spanish Ambassador to King Henry VII groaned at the intrigues of an English noble family. 'As long as any Earl of Warwick lived,’ he cried, ‘England should never be cleansed or purged of civil war and privy sedition, so much was the name of Warwick.’ Throughout Europe, the famous and fierce Warwick crest – the Bear and Ragged Staff – was a symbol of treachery, rebellion and war.

For more than 650 years, the House of Warwick would shape the political and cultural destiny of England. From the ‘Black Dog’ to the ‘Devil Warwick’, the ‘Kingmaker’ to the Dudleys, this is the story of an English dynasty that emerged from the Midlands to (briefly) usurp the Crown. Only in the eighteenth century did the family dispense with their landed and political power in favour of the arts, transforming from a house of despots and brutes to one of dilettantes and bards.

In England’s Bears, Aaron Manning brings to life the world of a bloody and glorious dynasty and how its quest for power – and survival –shaped British history.

‘A masterful debut from Manning, effortlessly merging meticulous detail with absorbing storytelling. A work of passion vividly told.’ - Nathan Amin