The Last Days of Richard III [Hardcover]

"["The Last Days of Richard "III"] "should prove of interest to anyone who wants to go deeper into this watershed moment in English history." --The Historical Novels Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

The Last Days of Richard III contains a new and uniquely detailed exploration of Richard's last 150 days, and explores these events from the standpoint of Richard himself and his contemporaries. By deliberately avoiding the hindsight knowledge that he will lose the Battle of Bosworth Field, we discover a new Richard: no passive victim, awaiting defeat and death, but a king actively pursuing his own policies and agenda. It also re-examines the aftermath of Bosworth, the treatment of Richard's body, his burial and the construction of his tomb. Based on newly discovered evidence and wider insights it explores the motives underlying these events. And there is also the fascinating story of why and how Richard III's DNA was rediscovered, alive and well, and living in Canada. John Ashdown-Hill has produced a stimulating and thought-provoking account of the end of Richard's life. Even readers very familiar with his short life will discover a new and fascinating picture of him.

JOHN ASHDOWN-HILL is an historian and a member of the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Genealogists, the Richard III Society and the Centre Europeen d'Etudes Bourguignonnes. He is the author of Eleanor, the Secret Queen and Richard III's 'Beloved Cousyn' (as well as numerous articles in The Ricardian) and lives in Colchester.