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Richard III (Penguin Monarchs)

Richard III (Penguin Monarchs)

A Failed King?

Summary

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.

About the author

Rosemary Horrox

Rosemary Horrox is a Life Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. Her books include Richard III: A Study of Service.
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