Finished: Henry the Sixth, Part III (Shakespeare) I seem to be making my way through the Shakespeare histories backwards at this point. :-) "Tell me if you love Warwick more than me? If it be so, then both depart to him; I rather wish you foes than hollow friends." Well, ain't that the truth in current times as well as back in the day. Edward says this in questioning two of his loyal followers when he realizes that Warwick has betrayed him and gone over to fight on King Henry's side. Of course, Warwick only went over to King Henry's side because he felt horrendously betrayed and embarrassed by Edward when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville without his knowledge AND while Warwick was on an ambassador's trip to the King of France to unite their countries by arranging a marriage between Edward and the sister of the King of France. When notice came during this meeting, which had been approved of by Edward, then Warwick became furious and changed his allegiance. So, this was yet another book of many battles and trading allegiances. First, Edward's father, Richard and his brother, Edmund, were slain in the battle to usurp King Henry from his throne. Then, Edward and his brothers, Richard and George (of Clarence) prevailed and defeated Henry, exiling him to Scotland and placing the crown on Edward's head. Then, Edward ups and marries Elizabeth, which really ticks both of his brothers off as well, since he seems to start favoring her brothers and other family members. Then, Warwick wages war on Edward, with the help of Henry's wife, Margaret, AND with the help of Edward's brother, George, who has defected to his side. This temporarily restores Henry to the crown, until brother Richard and some loyal men free Edward from his guard and restore him yet again back to the crown. In that ensuing battle, Warwick is finally killed because at the last minute, George decides that he can't go against his brother, so he helps Edward defeat Warwick. Young Edward, the son and heir of Henry and Margaret is also killed in that battle, so the wind rather goes out of Margaret's sails at that time. And then, Richard rushes off to finally kill the usurped Henry, instead of just imprisoning him. Then, at the end, Elizabeth presents King Edward with a son and heir, and Edward seems to think they'll all live happily ever after in a peaceful kingdom. The plotting Richard, though, is already showing signs of having other ideas...which we soon find out about in the book I finished before this...Richard the Third. In all, another great Shakespeare reading! I'm not sure if I'll go further back in history right now, but I will eventually. I left off coming the other way in history with the honorable Harry Hotspur, one of my favorite Shakespeare characters, being killed in his uprising against Henry IV, so I've got some middle ground to cover. :-)