The Battle of Bosworth along with Hastings and Naseby is one of the most important battles in English history and on the death of Richard, ushered in the age of the Tudors. This is the story of two very different men, Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England and Henry Tudor and how they met in battle on 22 August 1485 at Bosworth Field.

The battle of Bosworth was the culmination of the War of the Roses, the dynastic struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster that dominated England in the second half of the 15th century. Edward IV had secured the throne for the house of York, but his early death in 1483, followed by the death of his sons and the taking of the throne by his brother, Richard of York, saw a renewed outbreak of fighting. His reign began with a major rebellion and was dogged by rumours of his involvement in murder, with Richard facing threats not only from the lords he alienated but also the Lancastrian faction waiting in the wings. Henry Tudor eventually decided to take the huge risk of attempting to seize the throne and Richard's army marched to meet him, finally clashing near Market Bosworth. Guiding the reader from the campaign's origins to its aftermath, and covering the commanders and forces of King Richard III and Henry Tudor, this is a complete treatment of one of the most important events in English history. The story of Bosworth has been transformed in the 20th century as an extensive survey between 2005 and 2009 by the Battlefields Trust has pinpointed the location of the battlefield, for many years a source of debate and controversy, and this new history is based on that interpretation. It will also highlight the incredible discovery of Richard III's remains in Leicester, the study of the bones and relate this to what was previously thought to have happened to him at the end of the battle.

On 22 August 1485 the forces of the Yorkist king Richard III and his Lancastrian opponent Henry Tudor clashed at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire in one of the decisive battles of English history. Richard was defeated and killed. Henry took the crown as Henry VII, established the Tudor dynasty and set English history on a new course. For the last 500 years this, the most famous battle of the Wars of the Roses, has excited passionate interest and continuing controversy. Peter Hammond, in a vivid and perceptive account of the battle, retells the story of the tangled dynastic and personal rivalries that provoked the conflict, describes the preparations of the two converging armies and offers a gripping analysis of the contest itself. The latest historical evidence is assessed, including the recent discovery of Richard III's body in Leicester and the fascinating archaeological work that has been carried out on the battlefield. This lucid, authoritative and readable new history will be essential reading for anyone who is intrigued by the short, unhappy reign of Richard III and the trial of strength that destroyed him.

On the morning of the 22nd August 1485, to the sound of thundering hooves, gunshot, the clash of steel and the cries of men in battle, Richard III, King of England, lost his life and the Platangenet line came to an end. But what do we really know of the battle which became known as the Battle of Bosworth Field? How do we separate fact from legend when our knowledge is based on sources which are meagre, garbled or partisan?

In 1485 on a battlefield in Bosworth, King Richard III was dealt a death blow by the man who had sworn loyalty to him only a few months earlier. He was Rhys ap Thomas. This is the story of the man who helped forge the course of British history.

“An intriguing addition to the history of Bosworth battlefield, clearly based on painstaking research and beautifully illustrated throughout.” —Leicestershire Historian The Wars of the Roses came to a bloody climax at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22 1485. In a few hours, on a stretch of otherwise unremarkable fields in Leicestershire, Richard III, Henry Tudor and their Yorkist and Lancastrian supporters clashed. This decisive moment in English history ought to be clearly recorded and understood, yet controversy has confused our understanding of where and how the battle was fought. That is why Richard Mackinder’s highly illustrated and personal account of the search for evidence of the battle is such absorbing reading. Mackinder shows how archaeological evidence, discovered by painstaking work on the ground, has put this historic battle into the modern landscape. Using the results of the latest research, Mackinder takes the reader through each phase of the battle, from the camp sites of the opposing armies on the night before, through the movements of thousands of men across the battlefield during the fight and the major individual episodes such as the death of the Duke of Norfolk, the intervention of Lord Stanley and the death of Richard III. At each stage he recounts what happened, where it happened and what physical evidence has survived. A vivid impression of the battle emerges from the narrative which is closely linked to the landscape that was fought over on that fateful day.

No English king has so divided opinion, both during his reign and in the centuries since, more than Richard III. He was loathed in his own time for the never-confirmed murder of his young nephews, the Princes in the Tower, and died fighting his own subjects on the battlefield. This is the vision of Richard we have inherited from Shakespeare. Equally, he inspired great loyalty in his followers. In this enlightening, even-handed study, Rosemary Horrox builds a complex picture of a king who by any standard failed as a monarch. He was killed after only two years on the throne, without an heir, and brought such a decisive end to the House of York that Henry Tudor was able to seize the throne, despite his extremely tenuous claim. Whether Richard was undone by his own fierce ambitions, or by the legacy of a Yorkist dynasty which was already profoundly dysfunctional, the end result was the same: Richard III destroyed the very dynasty that he had spent his life so passionately defending.

For many, Richard III is an obsession-the Richard III Society has a huge membership, and Shakespeare's Histories have contributed to, if not his popularity, certainly his notoriety. Now, with the discovery of Richard III's bones under a parking lot in Leicester, England, interest in this divisive and enigmatic figure in British history is at an all-time high. It is a compelling story to scholars as well as general readers, who continue to seek out the kind of strong narrative history that David Horspool delivers in this groundbreaking biography of the king. Richard III dispassionately examines the legend as well as the man to uncover both what we know of the life of Richard, and the way that his reputation has been formed and re-formed over centuries. But beyond simply his reputation, there is no dispute that the last Plantagenet is a pivotal figure in English history-his death signaled the end of the War of the Roses, and, arguably, the end of the medieval period in England-and Horspool's biography chronicles this tumultuous time with flair. This narrative-driven and insightful biography lays out a view of Richard that is fair to his historical character and to his background in the medieval world. Above all, it is authoritative in its assessment of a king who came to the throne under extraordinary circumstances.