nine chronicles edited here are the principal surviving historical narratives of the Wars of the Roses written in English by men who lived through those wars.
These are the best accounts by commoners and one lord written for their fellow Englishmen, produced within a few years of the events they describe, and have a particular immediacy.
Six of these chronicles recount
in detail particular events: The First Battle of St AlbansMayand The Siege of Bamburgh Castle JuneJulybatttlesThe Rebellion in Lincolnshire March, The Confession of Robert Welles FebruaryMarch, and The History of the Arrival of King Edward IV MarchMaycampaigns and The Manner and Guiding of the Earl of WarwickJulynegotiations.
The remaining three describe the development of the larger conflict over extended periods: the Continuation of Gregory's Chronicle, Howard's Chronicle, and Warkworth's Chronicle, They do not cover the last stages of the Wars of the Roses, since by the end of May, it must have looked as if the conflict was permanently resolved.
These accounts, although contemporary, have to be treated with caution, All of them are narratives of public events intended for public consumption, They remain, however, vibrant and immediate accounts of the events they describe in a systematic, modern edition, .