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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book That Inspired the Dig in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book That Inspired the Dig
The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book That Inspired the Dig
John Ashdown-Hill | 2013 | Biography
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is only a fairly short book with a limited focus, but nevertheless I found it very interesting. It's odd really, because opinion on the subject tends to be so polarised that it's easy to lose sight of a few simple facts and some of what Ashdown-Hill presents here should really be so obvious! For starters, for all the association of Bosworth with Richard III he didn't know it was going to happen and obviously didn't go in 'knowing' that he was going to be defeated - hindsight may be a great thing, but not if you want to look at historical events in context!

The Portuguese marriage proposals was something that I did know about, but here it's presented so logically it makes absolute sense. The chosen bride was a princes of Portugal, with a Spanish Infanta also in the playing as a reserve option. Both of these princesses were descended from the legitimate and senior branch of the House of Lancaster! Furthermore, it seems that a Portuguese marriage was also in the offing for Elizabeth of York. That being so, the letter supposedly written by her (reported by Buck, but now seemingly lost) makes more sense as does the confusion over Richard II wanting to marry Elizabeth, his niece, which never made any real sort of sense as, if we accept the truth of the Eleanor Butler pre-contract, then the children of Edward IV by Elizabeth Woodville were undoubtedly illegitimate, so there would be absolutely no point in Richard marrying her. On the other hand, Elizabeth and her sisters were the closest things available to Royal Princesses to be traded on the dynastic marriage market.
  
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Deborah (162 KP) rated Richard III: The Road to Leicester in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
RI
Richard III: The Road to Leicester
Amy Licence | 2014
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Call, me cynical, but this does feel like a bit of an attempt to cash in on all the interest stirred by the discovery of King Richard's last resting place. It's a pretty short book - around 90 pages of main text with colour plates and gives a brief overview. The problem is that there are lots of errors - the names of Elizabeth Wydevilles eldest children for starters and the rather sensationalist statement that Edward V disappeared into his room in the Tower "never to come out again" - well, he's evidently not still there, so he must have come out one way or another!

If you want something sensible and readable, John Ashdown-Hill is the author to go with IMO.