The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses and calling card is a black arrow, cause Dick to suspect that his guardian Sir Daniel Brackley and his retainers are responsible for his father's murder. Dick's suspicions are enough to turn Sir Daniel against him, so he has no recourse but to escape from Sir Daniel and join the outlaws of the Black Arrow against him. This struggle sweeps him up into the greater conflict surrounding them all. The novel is set in the reign of "old King Henry VI" (1422–1461, 1470–1471) and during the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). The story begins with the Tunstall Moat House alarm
Cham–Vietnamese War (1471) and once their economies recovered, these two kingdoms went to war again. When fighting resumed in 1471, the Champa kingdom found itself weakened and isolated. It has experienced numerous civil wars and, at one point, had five different rulers. For its earlier attack on Angkor, the Khmers ignored the Cham's request for assistance when Vietnam invaded. The Cham also requested Ming China to intervene by helping bring the Vietnamese back in line by force and demarcate the border between Champa and Vietnam. China, however, only verbally rebuked the Vietnamese for its incursion, which the Vietnamese ignored, proceeding with its attack