No English king has suffered wider fluctuations of reputation than Richard III, perhaps the most controversial ruler England has ever had. Vilified by critics as a ruthless master of intrigue and a callous murderer, he has been no less extravagantly praised by defenders of his reputation against Tudor and Shakespearian charges of tyranny. Richard III: From Contemporary Chronicles, Letters and Records, by its presentation of contemporary and near contemporary sources, enables the reader to get behind the mythology and gain a more realistic picture of the king. An invaluable collection of the primary sources presented clearly and concisely, it demonstrates just why Richard has remained an enigma for so long. Established as an essential part of the literature on Richard III since its first publication under the title Richard III: A Reader in History, this new edition has been completely revised and considerably expanded to offer an indispensable source book for historians, students and the general reader. Also, this up to date edition includes a chapter in relation to the exciting discovery of Richard III's skeleton that was found under a car park in Leicester. The Genesis of this book came from a summary guide produced by Keith Dockray for all of his second year undergraduate students. Upon this foundation has been built an accessible and enjoyable history of this fascinating king, as seen by those who knew him at the time, or who were living shortly after his untimely death at Bosworth Field.

The definitive book on Richard III written and researched by world experts in their field.

Follow Richard III through the resplendent castles, towering cathedrals, manor houses and chapels associated with his controversial life.

From acclaimed historian Chris Skidmore comes the authoritative biography of Richard III, England’s most controversial king, a man alternately praised as a saint and cursed as a villain. Richard III is one of English history’s best known and least understood monarchs. Immortalized by Shakespeare as a hunchbacked murderer, the discovery in 2012 of his skeleton in a Leicester parking lot re-ignited debate over the true character of England’s most controversial king. Richard was born into an age of brutality, when civil war gripped the land and the Yorkist dynasty clung to the crown with their fingertips. Was he really a power-crazed monster who killed his nephews, or the victim of the first political smear campaign conducted by the Tudors? In the first full biography of Richard III for fifty years, Chris Skidmore draws on new manuscript evidence to reassess Richard’s life and times. Richard III examines in intense detail Richard’s inner nature and his complex relations with those around him to unravel the mystery of the last English monarch to die on the battlefield.

Anne Neville was queen to England's most notorious king, Richard III. She was immortalised by Shakespeare for the remarkable nature of her marriage, a union which brought together a sorrowing widow with her husband's murderer. Anne's misfortune did not end there. In addition to killing her first husband, Richard also helped kill her father, father-in-law and brother-in-law, imprisoned her mother, and was suspected of poisoning Anne herself. Dying before the age of thirty, Anne Neville packed into her short life incident enough for many adventurous careers, but was always, apparently, the passive instrument of others' evil intentions. This fascinating new biography seeks to tell the story of Anne's life in her own right, and uncovers the real wife of Richard III by charting the remarkable twists and turns of her fraught and ultimately tragic life.

An invaluable collection of primary sources, presented clearly and concisely, demonstrating why Richard III remained an enigma for so long.

A definitive new biography of one of British history's most controversial figures, that seeks to bring peace to Richard III's reputation.

The concluding volume to this rousing two-part history of the Wars of the Roses, England’s longest and bloodiest civil war, narrated by a master historian. England, 1462. The Yorkist Edward IV has been king for three years since his victory at Towton. The former Lancastrian King Henry VI languishes in the Tower of London. But Edward will soon alienate his backers by favoring the family of his ambitious wife, Elizabeth Woodville. And he will fall out with his chief supporter, Warwick “the Kingmaker,” with dire consequences. Told with extraordinary authority and narrative verve, Blood Royal is the second part of a two-volume history of the dynastic wars fought between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne from 1450 until 1485. Hugh Bicheno tells the story of the Wars of the Roses as an enthralling, character-driven saga of interwoven families, narrating each chapter from the point of view of a key player in the wider drama. This latest volume describes three Lancastrian attempts to overthrow the Yorkists, ending with the death of Edward's successor, Richard III, at Bosworth in 1485—and the accession of Henry VII and the rise of the Tudor dynasty.