Richard III: A Royal Enigma

by Sean Cunningham

Richard III: villain or hero? He was only on the throne for just over two years, yet Richard is probably the most controversial monarch in British history: to some a hunchbacked schemer, usurper and murderer of the 'princes in the Tower', to others a very capable and much maligned ruler. Now you can judge for yourself. Surviving documents from his reign, including letters in Richard's own hand and extracts from official papers, are reproduced here from the 500-year-old originals. Each key document is beautifully reproduced in a double-page spread which also includes an extended contextualising caption and a modern transcription where necessary. The original sources are woven together by a brief narrative history of the reign, fully illustrated in colour with portraits, photographs and other material from the archives.

Featured documents include:

* Letter from Richard to his mother, 1484
* Richard's official justification for taking the throne, 1484
proclamation against Henry Tudor, 1485
* Richard's letter to the Lord Chancellor requesting the Great Seal 1483

Genres: History, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2003

About the author

Sean Cunningham is a Principal Records Specialist at The National Archives. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has published widely on late medieval and early Tudor England.

Reviews

[Ikonopeiston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very useful book for someone who is already familiar with the period. It is beautiful and lovingly presents both important documents (Titulus Regius) and contemporary images and objects in fine detail. It is worth the cost for those alone.

Cunningham purports to be even-handed in his treatment of Richard. He is not. His text, aside from the captions for the illustrations, is riddled with factual error and omissions. It is best simply to read the descriptions of the items he has chosen from the National Archives and find the history of the times from a more reliable source.

This is not one of the first books to acquire for a collection dealing with the end of the Middle Ages but it is one which is a valuable curiosity.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one in a series put out by the British National Archives on Royal Monarchs. It refers to and has pictures of various original documents from the time which help shed light on that particular reign. They are rather dry, of course, but nevertheless fascinating to see.

And the "funny" thing about it is that at the time of the writing Richard's body had not been found so that the author's statements about not knowing what happened to Richard already make the book seem extremely dated (Not that this type of history can be "dated").

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for looking at the documents of the era, but be careful at how quickly you take the author's word on certain facts. There are many errors that can be spotted, and given that Richard's body has been found, it might be better to wait until a new edition can be published that will feature the most up-to-date information.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading about King Richard III's skeleton being discovered, I decided to read more about it. Good general overview-takes a middle road on question of "Was he a monster or just misunderstood?"

[Ernestina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth having for the photos (and translation) of original documents, nothing of note in the text.