Richard III

In 1986, David Baldwin boldly predicted that the remains of Richard III would be discovered sometime in the 21st century. His prophecy was vindicated on 4th February 2013 when the University of Leicester held a press conference to announce that the skeleton which had been uncovered beneath the Leicester Social Services car park was that of England's last Plantagenet king.In the introduction to his work, Baldwin asks what he can possibly add to the previously published work of Paul Murray Kendall whose brilliant biography had already set down all that we know of this much maligned king from the available historical records. When I bought this book, I was asking myself the same question. There is no doubt that the two authors sit firmly on the Ricardian side of the fence in the debate with the Tudor portrayal of Richard's character but Baldwin takes a slightly more academic approach. He points out several instances where Kendall has described events which are the result of his own interpretation rather than established fact. Baldwin does not shy away from the grimier side of Richard's character and, in all, he presents a more balanced view.For anyone who is interested in the medieval history and the fascinating character of Richard III, this is a definitive work which takes a narrative approach and is very easy to read.

David Baldwin has written an intensely readable book on the most controversial of monarchs, setting out to paint both a dark and light picture of him. On the whole Baldwin succeeds but at times his effort to sit on the fence seems forced and Richard in the end appears bland at times.Describing Richard's good and bad points before he came to the throne, Baldwin ultimately believes that whilst he didn't plan for the throne before Edward IV died, for whatever reason, he took an opportunity in the summer of 1483 to usurp it from his nephew. He is open to the fate of his nephews, discussing their murder or disappearance. Interesting also is the discussion surrounding the marriage between himself and his niece Elizabeth of York and takes seriously the possibility that Elizabeth herself and her mother Elizabeth Woodville both pushed for the marriage.However, the book could have been so much more in depth which says more about the publisher Amberley who likes to release, in my opinion, nice, easy going reads than it says about someone of Baldwin's stature. It's a great little read but it misses out so much and a lot of other arguments are ignored. For a book on Richard III, that is no excuse!I was tempted to give it three stars but settled for four, for two reasons. It is a lovely read, despite it's flaws and Baldwin does not go into his fanciful theory that Richard, Duke of York, the younger prince in the tower, survived into the reign of Henry VIII; something that he has dedicated a whole book to and mentions in the recent book he wrote with Phillippa Gregory.

I purchased and read this excellent book before the remains of Richard III were discovered. Having read many books about Richard III, his brother King Edward, Richard's wife Anne Neville, his niece Elizabeth of York, the wars of the roses and other books of the period, I found David Baldwin's book to be well researched and well balanced. The book does not, in my opinion, endeavour to convince the reader that Richard was all bad or all good, but allows the reader to form their own opinion based on the facts as written and interpret/believe the heresay as they feel fit. There are only so many true facts from this period in history on which to base an opinion and some authors fail to deliver all the facts, many leaving the reader in no doubt as to the author's biased view. Placing oneself inside the medieval mind is not possible and It is a good idea to read other unbiased books of subsequent kings, in particular Henry VII and Henry VIII. to help form an opinion of Richard. We do know as fact that these two kings were most definitely not angels and performed some unspeakable deeds!

Baldwin drives mainly on secondary sources in delivering what is a balanced view of this historical character. He does seem to have made some reasoning on what he read, some of the assumptions he drives are reasonable (e.g. dating Young Richard's tutelage at Warwick's estate from 1465 until 1468 instead of from 1461 until 1465 as traditionally viewed since Kendall's bio), some others are not so well and deeply thought of, mainly relying on traditional view (e.g. the allegations on Elizabeth of York), the relationships with the major charachters in Richard's life are not very well explored (if explored at all, his marriage with Anne Neville is accounted in few lines like a dry Wikipedia entry...).In general, it feels like no major original research has been put in this book and the reader may want to access bios with more references to contemporary records (like Kendall's one) or with accounts of more recent discoveries (like Ashdown-Hill) to make up his own mind.

This is a well researched and well written history.The story of a good man who was also a good king, concerned with the ordinary people of his realm, but who was sadly maligned by his enemies. This is a thoughtful rendering of his story, showing a real person.What a treat!

This is a good, easily accessible introduction to one of England's most notorious kings. Far from taking sides, the author explores both the good and evil sides of his subject. Chivalrous but ambitious, Richard III was an interesting man who faced a surprising set of circumstances. After the state-sanctioned execution of his elder brother, the Duke of Clarence, and the untimely death of his eldest brother, King Henry, Richard was appointed as Lord Protector to ensure the transition to crowning his nephew as a boy-king. In the end, Richard imprisoned the two children who were heirs to the throne and crowned himself as King instead.David Baldwin is a highly-respected scholar of this period and has a pleasant writing style. This book includes the most recent information on the exhumed king's remains, including the results of DNA testing which confirmed Richard III's final resting place was made into a parking lot (he has since been moved and reburied with appropriate ceremony). Mr. Baldwin's tale occasionally strays from his subject into the weeds a bit with the details regarding the other main figures of the day, but I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a concise book on that most unexpected monarch, Richard Plantagenet.

Although still in the process of reading this non-fiction work, I have no hesitation in recommending David Baldwin's book on Richard 111. It is well written, easy to read and as enthralling as any current popular best seller. The story of Richard is not new but the author has researched his subject extensively and presents his findings in a thoughtful manner. I look forward to completing the book which does bring up to date, the discovery of Richard's skeleton and his reburial.

... alle drei Aspekte werden in diesem Buch beleuchtet - ohne jede Form von Pathos oder Parteinahme.David Baldwin skizziert Richard III in dessen unterschiedlichen Lebensphasen (von der Geburt bis zum Tod). Er liefert dabei eine Fülle von interessanten Details, z. B. über Richards Eltern, das Verhältnis zu seinen Geschwistern, Gesetze, die Richard III erlassen hat (und die bis heute fortschrittlich sind), Bücher, die in Richards privatem Besitz waren bis hin zu intimen Aspekten, die ihn und seine Frau Anne Neville betreffen. Baldwin enthält sich dabei dennoch jeglicher Form von Spekulationen, die als historische Fakten verstanden werden könnten. Das heißt, er formuliert im Konjunktiv, wenn es keine historische Quellen gibt, die seine Annahmen unterstützen. Allerdings liefert er zuweilen Erklärungen für Richards Verhalten, die sich einfach aus einer menschlichen Perspektive ergeben können. Ob diese Erklärungen angemessen oder akzeptabel sind, muss zu diesem Zeitpunkt der Forschung jeder Leser für sich selbst entscheiden.Das Buch ist chronologisch aufgebaut und dadurch ergeben sich keine Wiederholungen oder unverständliche Querverweise, was sehr hilfreich ist, wenn man sich dem Thema Richard III nähert.Ein weiterer Pluspunkt ist der übersichtliche Stammbaum am Anfang des Buches. Er erleichtert dem Leser die unterschiedlichen Personen im Umfeld von Richard III, die oft den gleichen Vornamen hatten, zu identifizieren und somit die persönlichen und politischen Zusammenhänge besser zu verstehen.Insgesamt gesehen ist das Buch eine, mit Referenzen auf historische Quellen, verdichtete und dennoch lebendige Darstellung des letzten Plantagenet Königs.Das Buch ist absolut empfehlenswert!

David Baldwin has provided an interesting, even-handed biography of one of England's most controversial kings. The work is well-researched & documented & even includes a section on the finding of the king's body in 2012 in a Leicester car park. For myself, I found the extensive bibliography to be very useful in filling out an already well-stocked medieval/Ricardian library, but I would also highly recommend this very readable work for those new to the subject.

I wanted to read David Baldwin's biography of Richard III for two primary reasons: First, I was drawn to these two sentences from the Introduction: "It seems improbable that any human being could be as evil -- or alternatively as misunderstood -- as Richard, and my starting point is that somewhere behind all the conflicting argument stands a real man who had both qualities and failings. Neither black nor white, but -- like all of us -- somewhere in between." Second, the new paperback edition has an additional chapter added after the University of Leicester announced that the skeleton discovered in a parking lot was confirmed beyond reasonable doubt to be that of the last Plantagenet king of England.I was definitely not disappointed in this biography. I read Paul Murray Kendall's biography decades ago and just recently I read "Richard III and the Death of Chivalry". It's been too long since I read Kendall's biography to make any comparisons, but I do think Baldwin's biography is superior to "Richard III and the Death of Chivalry". In my opinion he does deliver a balanced view of Richard III. At the end of the eighth chapter he provides an excellent summary of Richard's character:"He knew the difference between right and wrong, but the terrible uncertainty of his earliest years compelled him to behave in ways he himself would not have thought acceptable in other circumstances. The Richard who was prepared to treat the two women closest to him so callously was the Richard who seized his nephew's throne: not the Richard who was devoted to his religion and who wanted to be remembered for his sense of justice and fairness. Not `good' or `bad', but both."What I find especially fascinating is how closely Baldwin's portrait of Richard agrees with the theory of two University of Leicester psychologists, Professor Mark Lansdale and Dr. Julian Boon, that Richard suffered from "intolerance to uncertainty syndrome" as a result of his insecure childhood.I highly recommend this biography to anyone interested in a balanced view of the life and reign of Richard III.  Richard IIIRichard III