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Richard III

The Self-Made King

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Richard III

By: Michael Hicks
Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
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About this listen

The definitive biography and assessment of the wily and formidable prince who unexpectedly became monarch - the most infamous king in British history

The reign of Richard III, the last Yorkist king and the final monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty, marked a turning point in British history. But despite his lasting legacy, Richard only ruled as king for the final two years of his life. While much attention has been given to his short reign, Michael Hicks explores the whole of Richard's fascinating life and traces the unfolding of his character and career from his early years as the son of a duke to his violent death at the battle of Bosworth.

Hicks explores how Richard - villainized for his imprisonment and probable killing of the princes - applied his experience to overcome numerous setbacks and adversaries. Richard proves a complex, conflicted individual whose Machiavellian tact and strategic foresight won him a kingdom. He was a reformer who planned big changes, but lost the opportunity to fulfill them and to retain his crown.

©2019 Michael Hicks (P)2019 Tantor Europe Great Britain Historical Medieval Military & War Politicians Politics & Activism Royalty England Middle Ages Tudor War United Kingdom

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An interesting and thorough examination of the life of Richard III, about whom there is little contemporary biographical material. The listener is presented with a wealth of genealogical information and related records of financial and estate transactions, from which the author draws many and fascinating conclusions about Richard's character and motivation. I found the delivery rather fast, which made some of the detail hard to grasp. His pronunciation of some words (victuals, Alnwick, Beaulieu etc.) was very odd - I wasn't sure if he didn't know the 'correct' pronunciation or if he was saying them in a 15th century style! It was worth listening to, though.

Quirky delivery

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Do not expect a chronology of the Wars of the Roses or indeed Richard III's reign. This is a highly technical and analytical look at the man who was to become (in)famous as the last English king to die in battle. It is extremely detailed, an academic work that few other Roses or Ricardian historians cover - and in consequence it does tell us more about the man than many other "biographies". It sets Richard's rule in context and does give us an insight into the man and his times, but sometimes leaves us wondering still about his motivations. The book seems well sourced and researched, and on balance Richard is treated fairly - perhaps unusually given his "marmite" nature to most students of the WotR. Highly recommended for serious students but if you are looking for a simple story of his life, reign and the end of the Plantagenet era, look elsewhere. This gives exhaustive detail of his residences, often his financial accounts, his circumstances but without a basic understanding of the wars, you might be left confused and wondering.

Highly detailed analysis, sloppy performance

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Not overly impressed, the author was quite biased in some of his assumptions and belittles Richards prowess on the battle field. He doesnt even point out to the reader that Henry Tudor had dismounted when he realised Richard was heading in his direction and hid behind his pikesmen not very impressive for his time. He fails to accept the evidence that Richard has been found and yet a few chapters later he recommends DNA analysis for the bones found in the tower. In one chapter when Cecilly left her youngest children in London to visit her husband their elder brother Edward visits them according to the author this was polically motivated as his siblings would be useful to him when they came of age, how on earth did he come to this conclusion?

One Too Many assumptions

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This carefully researched book was read in such a slapdash manner as to undermine the credibility of the content. Names of people and places were mangled as were historical terms. It is impossible to select a single example as there were so many. Who did the audio edit?

Good content marred by constant mispronunciations

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This book is heavy in facts and made almost impossible to follow due to the narrator’s style. It is also so annoying that the names of key towns are constantly mispronounced.
Did nobody on the production side care about or check such important facts? If you know the geographical area involved this gets more and more annoying and frustrating!
I think I would have been better off buying the book.

Mispronunciations Galore

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