Finished: Henry VI Part II (Shakespeare). More great words by the bard. I'm so glad I decided to finish reading these particular plays in Shakespeare's histories! Though the characters can be confusing, I just keep my little cheat sheet open and then I know who he's talking about when he calls characters by titles instead of names. In this book, York and Warwick declare war on King Henry because York believes he is the rightful heir to the throne. York's three sons, Edward, George and Richard come into prominence in part III of Henry VI, when Edward becomes the next king. There is alot of seemingly quick beheading in this book, but I guess that's just the way it was back then. And, there's a huge tangent where a rebel, Cade, tries to raise troops to go against the realm and declare himself king. One of the reputed best lines of the play comes from that section, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers". However, I don't like that line since my son's dear friend Zach just finished the bar and became a lawyer. :-)  In correlation with reading the histories, I've been reading The White Queen, which I'm almost finished with, so I am about saturated with the sons of King Edward III, their progeny, their battles for the crown, white and red roses, the greed and ambition that apparently trumps brotherly love, etc.. I've truly enjoyed it though...and am heartbroken only by the horrific fate that the two young princes in the tower met at the hands of their "protectors". I think I may tackle Henry VIII next after a small trip out of town.