The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses Black Arrow" appeared in "Young Folks" (October 1883): The Battle of Shoreby, a fictitious battle that is the main event of Book 5, is modelled after the First Battle of St Albans in the Wars of the Roses. This battle in history as in the novel was a victory for the House of York. The presence of an abbey church in Shoreby is reminiscent of the abbey church of Tewkesbury to which the Lancastrians fled for sanctuary after the battle on 4 May 1471. In the "prologue" Stevenson intimates that the Tunstall of "The Black Arrow" is a real place:
The Wars of the Roses (adaptation) the grounds that the "Henry VI" plays "are not viable as they stand," arguing they needed to be adapted "in the interests of audience accessibility." As an example of the alterations, in the original text, the character of the Duke of Exeter appears only in "1 Henry VI", whereas in "The Wars of the Roses", he appears throughout all three plays, as a constant ally of Henry VI and the House of Lancaster. Numerous characters were also removed, such as Warwick's father, the Earl of Salisbury, a major character in "2 Henry VI", and some of the battle scenes were