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Richard III
The reign of Richard III (1483-85) was one of the shortest in English history: yet the King himself was one of the most enigmatic personalities to have occupied the throne.
Only 31 at the time of his death, Richard in his brief career demonstrated an extraordinary range of contradictory qualities - staunch loyalty and dissimulating perfidy, dignified generosity and ruthless self-interest, scrupulous honesty in government and a cynical manipulativeness.
Those whom he benefited praised him to the skies while he was alive - though many of them changed sides rapidly after his death.
The Tudors, to whom he lost his crown, and their publicists, including Sir Thomas More and William Shakespeare, portrayed him as a villain of deepest dye. From the later 18th century onwards, he has been a hero for those who are drawn to lost causes. In short, the Wars of the Roses are not finished yet!
Only 31 at the time of his death, Richard in his brief career demonstrated an extraordinary range of contradictory qualities - staunch loyalty and dissimulating perfidy, dignified generosity and ruthless self-interest, scrupulous honesty in government and a cynical manipulativeness.
Those whom he benefited praised him to the skies while he was alive - though many of them changed sides rapidly after his death.
The Tudors, to whom he lost his crown, and their publicists, including Sir Thomas More and William Shakespeare, portrayed him as a villain of deepest dye. From the later 18th century onwards, he has been a hero for those who are drawn to lost causes. In short, the Wars of the Roses are not finished yet!
- GenresNonfictionHistory
20 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
George William Otway Woodward (1924 -2005) emeritus professor of history at University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 23, 2018
Very basic read for people just wanting the highlights of his reign but he was NOT 31 when he died. That error was on page 1! 😠
July 19, 2014
The fact that Richard III became King when he was well down the pecking order is quite something and when he got there his reign was one of the shortest in English history and while on the throne he brought out many different emotions from his followers - and his enemies.
He did not advance his claim to the throne immediately his brother, Edward IV, died but with the Duke of Buckingham as his main supporter (allegiances were to dramatically change later on) he eventually made it. On the way he eliminated various rivals, including Lord Hastings who was summarily executed, and an interesting remark in the book is 'Apart from these arrests and executions no overt force was used to carry Richard to the throne.' No overt force? Oh well, never mind the arrests, imprisonments and executions that took place and disregard the later remark 'The criminal violence associated with Richard's seizure of the throne has seriously tarnished his personal reputation ...'! Not surprisingly in his two brief years on the throne he never really knew security and there was always the ever-present threat of rebellion and invasion.
He lost his Queen and his only son and the threat from Henry Tudor grew, so much so that the long-expected invasion came in August 1485 and at the subsequent Battle of Bosworth Field, Richard III was killed and Henry VII succeeded him.
This is a short, succinct, entertaining work on a much neglected monarch and is splendidly illustrated.
He did not advance his claim to the throne immediately his brother, Edward IV, died but with the Duke of Buckingham as his main supporter (allegiances were to dramatically change later on) he eventually made it. On the way he eliminated various rivals, including Lord Hastings who was summarily executed, and an interesting remark in the book is 'Apart from these arrests and executions no overt force was used to carry Richard to the throne.' No overt force? Oh well, never mind the arrests, imprisonments and executions that took place and disregard the later remark 'The criminal violence associated with Richard's seizure of the throne has seriously tarnished his personal reputation ...'! Not surprisingly in his two brief years on the throne he never really knew security and there was always the ever-present threat of rebellion and invasion.
He lost his Queen and his only son and the threat from Henry Tudor grew, so much so that the long-expected invasion came in August 1485 and at the subsequent Battle of Bosworth Field, Richard III was killed and Henry VII succeeded him.
This is a short, succinct, entertaining work on a much neglected monarch and is splendidly illustrated.
April 24, 2022
Richard III: A Pitkin Guide
Based on an original text by GWO Woodward with additional material by Michael St John Parker
Reviewed April 5, 2022
This slender volume, coming in at 21 pages in length, is the kind of guide book you will find at just about any historic site and is a very good example of the genre. It is one of a series published by Pitkin Guides covering “Royalty and Pageantry, Cathedrals and Churches, Castles and Palaces, History and Biography, Cities and Famous Places.”
In this case, the text provides a succinct overview King Richard III from his earliest years to the Battle of Bosworth without regurgitating the same ol’ Tudor propaganda that has surrounded the man ever since his death. Instead, the author does a good job of projecting a well balanced portrait of the man.
Included are contemporary quotes showing Richard’s positive reputation during his life such as “Never had so much spirit or greater virtue reigned in so small a body,” written by Archibald Wahitelaw, Archdeacon of Lothian in 1484.
Or this one, written in the York City Council Minute Books the day after the Battle of Bosworth, “...in the Council Chamber it was showed by divers persons and especially by John Sponer sent into the field of Redemore to bring tidings from the same to that city, that King Richard, late mercifully reigning upon us...was piteously slain and murdered to the great heaviness of this city...”
I do have one complaint, and that’s when we get to the Princes in the Tower. The author doesn’t say Richard did it, but presents multiple possibilities including Henry Tudor and the Duke of Buckingham as the real culprits, and for that I will give him credit where credit is due.
What I object to, however, is where he writes about finding the bones in 1674 and, as happens all too often, incompletely quotes from Thomas More, writing how they were smothered in their beds and buried “at the stair foot, meetly deep under the ground, under a great heap of stones” while completely ignoring the fact that immediately after this, More writes that the bodies were dug up and reburied in a place no longer known.
As the author concludes, “The Wars of the Roses are not yet over. Any positive judgement on Richard, whether favourable or unfavourable, is almost certain to provoke a contest between his supports and detractors every bit as bitter, if not quite so physically violent, as the civil and dynastic strife through which Richard III lived and in the course of which he died.” And I’m sure many of my Ricardian friends and have encountered this very thing.
This particular edition was published in 1996, well before the king’s remains were found, but more recent editions have been updated to reflect this. It is a very short book that can be read in about an hour or so and is filled with illustrations and color photos on every page including a modern painting by Andrew Jamieson Stewart (one of my favorite artists) of the Battle of Bosworth that covers two pages. It’s much better than the souvenir guide book I bought about Richard III when I visited the UK back in the 1980s, one that perpetuated the “Wicked Uncle” myth, and will make a nice addition to my library.
Based on an original text by GWO Woodward with additional material by Michael St John Parker
Reviewed April 5, 2022
This slender volume, coming in at 21 pages in length, is the kind of guide book you will find at just about any historic site and is a very good example of the genre. It is one of a series published by Pitkin Guides covering “Royalty and Pageantry, Cathedrals and Churches, Castles and Palaces, History and Biography, Cities and Famous Places.”
In this case, the text provides a succinct overview King Richard III from his earliest years to the Battle of Bosworth without regurgitating the same ol’ Tudor propaganda that has surrounded the man ever since his death. Instead, the author does a good job of projecting a well balanced portrait of the man.
Included are contemporary quotes showing Richard’s positive reputation during his life such as “Never had so much spirit or greater virtue reigned in so small a body,” written by Archibald Wahitelaw, Archdeacon of Lothian in 1484.
Or this one, written in the York City Council Minute Books the day after the Battle of Bosworth, “...in the Council Chamber it was showed by divers persons and especially by John Sponer sent into the field of Redemore to bring tidings from the same to that city, that King Richard, late mercifully reigning upon us...was piteously slain and murdered to the great heaviness of this city...”
I do have one complaint, and that’s when we get to the Princes in the Tower. The author doesn’t say Richard did it, but presents multiple possibilities including Henry Tudor and the Duke of Buckingham as the real culprits, and for that I will give him credit where credit is due.
What I object to, however, is where he writes about finding the bones in 1674 and, as happens all too often, incompletely quotes from Thomas More, writing how they were smothered in their beds and buried “at the stair foot, meetly deep under the ground, under a great heap of stones” while completely ignoring the fact that immediately after this, More writes that the bodies were dug up and reburied in a place no longer known.
As the author concludes, “The Wars of the Roses are not yet over. Any positive judgement on Richard, whether favourable or unfavourable, is almost certain to provoke a contest between his supports and detractors every bit as bitter, if not quite so physically violent, as the civil and dynastic strife through which Richard III lived and in the course of which he died.” And I’m sure many of my Ricardian friends and have encountered this very thing.
This particular edition was published in 1996, well before the king’s remains were found, but more recent editions have been updated to reflect this. It is a very short book that can be read in about an hour or so and is filled with illustrations and color photos on every page including a modern painting by Andrew Jamieson Stewart (one of my favorite artists) of the Battle of Bosworth that covers two pages. It’s much better than the souvenir guide book I bought about Richard III when I visited the UK back in the 1980s, one that perpetuated the “Wicked Uncle” myth, and will make a nice addition to my library.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews