Ebook: Iron, fire and ice: the real history that inspired Game of thrones

"A young pretender raises an army to take the throne. Learning of his father's death, the adolescent, dashing and charismatic and descended from the old kings of the North, vows to avenge him. He is supported in this war by his mother, who has spirited away her two younger sons to safety. Against them is the queen, passionate, proud, and strong-willed and with more of the masculine virtues of the time than most men. She too is battling for the inheritance of her young son, not yet fully grown but already a sadist who takes delight in watching executions. Sound familiar? It may read like the plot of Game of Thrones. Yet that was also the story of the bloodiest battle in British history, fought at the culmination of the War of the Roses. George RR Martin's bestselling novels are rife with allusions, inspirations, and flat-out copies of real-life people, events, and places of medieval and Tudor England and Europe. The Red Wedding? Based on actual events in Scottish history. The poisoning of Joffrey Baratheon? Eerily similar to the death of William the Conqueror's grandson. The Dothraki? Also known as Huns, Magyars, Turks, and Mongols. Join Ed West, author of Skyhorse's A Very, Very Short History of England series, as he explores all of Martin's influences, from religion to war to powerful women. Instead of despairing while waiting for Season 8 of Game of Thrones, discover the real history behind the phenomenon and see for yourself that truth is stranger than fiction." --;The realm : England and the world in 1314 -- The iron king : France, the reach, and the curse of the Templars -- The lion of England : The real Tywin Lannister -- The first men : ancient Britain and Westeros -- "You're no son of mine" : Scotland and the she-wolf -- "We bow down before no man" : Greece, Sparta, and the real unsullied -- Walls of ice and brick : Roman inspirations -- Beyond the wall : Scottish history in Game of Thrones -- The old gods and the new : religion, magic, and monsters in Martin's world and ours -- Winter is coming : the great famine -- The seven : Church and sept -- Dornish Spain : Moorish Spain and Dorne -- Silk ribbons tied round the sword : sellswords, rapers, and the Hundred Years War -- The seven kingdoms : the Andals and the Angles -- The dance of death : Greyscale, the Black Death, and leprosy -- "Cattle die, kindred die, we ourselves shall die" : Viking influences on Game of Thrones -- The brethren of the cross : the sept, the church, sparrows, flagellants -- The drowned town : Venice and Braavos -- The small folk : The Jacquerie and the peasants revolt -- Wildfire : Constantinople, the greatest city that was and will be -- The mad king : madness and fire -- Fire and blood : conquerors, castles, bastards, and dwarves -- The death of kings : the tragedy of Richard II -- A song of heroic deeds : tournaments and chivalry -- The curse of the kingslayer : the house of Percy -- "I have other sons" : how England's forgotten civil war inspired Game of Thrones -- A golden crown : Henry V, Falstaff, and Robert Baratheon -- "I am a knight, I shall die a knight" : William Marshal, the sword of the morning -- The witch : Joan of Arc, the woman who stepped into the fire -- The sword in the darkness : the Knights Templars and the night's watch -- A marriage of fire and milk : Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou -- A clash of steel : justice and vengeance -- The stallion who mounts the world : Dothraki and Mongols -- The smell of blood and roses : York and Somerset -- The rock that bestrides the continents : the rise of the Turks -- The kings in the north : the Percys and the Nevilles -- The sons of the first men : The Tudors -- The Black Dinner : The real Red Wedding -- The young wolf : York and Lancaster at the bridge of bodies.