Which Richard III book?

[thelostking]

a family member is interested in Richard III so I wanted to get him a book for Christmas and was hoping someone here will have read one that they could recommend?

He’d want one that’s more about the search for the body but also touches on the king’s history, rather than just a book about his life.

I saw the following are available, does anyone know which one is a good choice? I’m also not sure if the 2 Langley/ Jones books are different or if they just have slightly different titles! thanks!

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

thank you for the recommendation. i think he’d prefer a factual book on the life and finding of Richard rather than a novel but thank you 😊

Paul Murray Kendall - old and probably out of print but try Abebooks. Even AL Rowse rated it and he was convinced of Richard's guilt for the princes disappearance.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(biography)

Also, Alison Weir doesn't rate it, which is good enough for me.

Meaning that if Weir doesn't like a book, I'll probably end up agreeing with the writer. How she has the reputation she does as a 'historian' eludes me.

thanks for the recommendation but he’s mainly interested in the successful search for richard’s
body

What do you mean, touches on the king's history? that IS about his life!

I’d go for the Langley book. I have the one in the first pic and if anyone knows about the background to the project it’s her. I haven’t seen the Lost king version to compare.

The Mike Pitts book is full of detail about the dig. The Langley one less so

that’s exactly the info I was looking for, thanks very much 🥳. i just realised the 2 Langley books are indeed the same, just released under different titles

If he is a fairly serious minded person I'd avoid the Langley books as she is very one sided in her views of St Dickon of the White Boar. If so then I'd go for this one which was written by the archaelogical team who did the actual work (although fair do s to Langley for raising the funds)

www.google.com/search?q=richard+3+discovery&client=firefox-b-d&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDo9mi1-z7AhUEg1wKHTRNAeAQ_AUoBHoECAIQBg&biw=1280&bih=595&dpr=2.5#spd=14473256683066910574

Sorry - wrong link in the last post

www.whsmith.co.uk/products/the-bones-of-a-king-richard-iii-rediscovered/maev-kennedy/hardback/9781118783146.html

thank you, that link seems to show the same Langley/ Jones book I was looking at?

Ah I see the different link, thanks I will have a look!

A few years ago I has house-sitting for a good friend of mine who lives in France, and loss of wi-fi meant I was basically left alone with whatever English language books she had, which were exclusively related to England and it's wars in France, so not a diverse set of reading :)

After checking on Amazon, I remember reading the Baldwin book on Richard III. I remember thinking it was OK, since I only knew the outline of the story from school days.

The book that stood out from me that time was the Dan Jones book "The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England". Of course it ends up with Richard III, but the evolution of the story to that point and how the various threads of that dynasty wove together were enlightening for me. It covers all the usual stuff of battles with France, the subjection and destruction of the Welsh, attempts to repeat same with the Scots. Lots of mention of notable female participants in events, which are often overlooked in older histories.

Although it's written as a novel it actually is informative about Richard III. I'd get it alongside a more factual book as it really is excellent.

Although [Daughter of Time] was written as a novel it actually is informative about Richard III. I'd get it alongside a more factual book as it really is excellent.

And it's a good introduction to the documentary sources, how the legend of the Evil Uncle developed, and how historians pick their way through the sources to try to establish what happened. (Although just to note, Tey doesn't mention some sources because they weren't known/available at the time she wrote.)

I like the Paul Murray Kendall book too. Well researched but readable. There's a more recent bio by Chris Skidmore, but I didn't feel it added a lot to what was already known.

The Langley book. It is very good.
I have bottom right for my dad for Christmas after seeing the film but I had already read it a while ago.
The film is fab. Surprisingly emotional

The Daughter of Time is an excellent book, one of my favourites