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♛ King Richard & Books ♛

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Christmas is coming up and as books still are one of the most favourite presents, I collect some reading tips here for you.
 
Not that I get through the multitude of new publications about King Richard right now – and some books still await me at Christmas – but there are new books I especially wanted to bring to your attention and recommend here, as I enjoyed reading them myself.
 
If you have books you would like to add to this recommendation, please feel free to either post them in the comment section of this post or send me a mail (contact form) to write and explain more about your recommendation and why you like the book(s).
 
Victoria Smith let us know her favourite King Richard III novel “The Murders of Richard III” by Elizabeth Peters and especially wrote a review for us.
 

(As usual here on KRA, earnings from embedded affiliate links on this site go to the charities recommended by actor Richard Armitage on his JustGiving page.)

 
 

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♛ King Richard & Jane Shore ♛

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Isolde Martyn – “Mistress to the Crown”

 
“Mistress to the Crown” follows the life and struggle for freedom of Jane Shore, the famous and influential mistress of King Richard III’s oldest brother, King Endward IV.
 
Her life never appeared to me as an especially romantic one, so a novel about Jane Shore coming out in a publishing house known for its extensive romantic novels instantly got my full interest.
 
From my previous comments about other works of the author Isolde Martyn, you already know that I adore her writing style.
Isolde Martyn also does not disappoint in this novel:
 

• Her writing is fluent and gripping that once I began reading, I could not put the book down. Though I already know the story of Jane Shore, I still needed to know how her life and fate unfolds in the story.

 

• The historical research which went into this novel is extensive and far beyond what I would normally expect from a historical novel. So for me, Isolde Martyn’s novels clearly are in a ‘historical novel’ class of their own.
  But the astonishing part of this for me is, that the books do not appear like a historical lecture, but unobtrusively and fluently the fate of Jane Shore unfolds in a way where I begin to care for her, while I never felt very ‘understanding’ for her and her fate before.

 

• For all King Richard interested readers, of course King Richard plays his role in the book as well, though more as a background figure, but still actively influencing the fate of Jane Shore.

 
At the time of the first English publication (03/2013), we published an
interview with author Isolde Martyn (14.03.2013).
 
Now, the book is also available in a German edition:

(The print edition was not available via Amazon.de at the time of the post, but should be shortly. If you want to order it for Christmas, here is the direct link to the publisher.)
 
Links to the English version:

 
 

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♛ King Richard & Art ♛

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Author Matthew Lewis (interview of 27th of August 2013, with book links) in his novel “Loyalty” follows Jack Leslau’s (http://www.holbeinartworks.org/) research and picture analysis and brings King Richard III in connection with the Holbein household.
 

 

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♛ King Richard & Research ♛

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University of Leicester: ‘Beyond reasonable doubt’: archaeologists give first-hand account of Richard III discovery in new book, by Peter Thorley (04.11.2013)
 
From the intense research done to find and identify King Richard III, I must admit, I had expected a big volume of a book. The publication is a rather slim one, but so much filled with detail and information, that I am not the least bit disappointed.
Though much of the information and material had been published in the press already, the explanations and collection of image material and details known about King Richard III is unique and I am very glad to have this book as a valuable reference about the last days of King Richard III as well as his discovery in Leicester.
So though the book is not a detailed description about how King Richard III was found in Leicester – go to the publication by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones for that – I really can recommend this book for the invaluable collection of research results.
 

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Philippa Langley/Michael Jones: The King’s Grave

 

 

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Dr. John Ashdown-Hill did the essential research to enable the following work by the University of Leicester to find King Richard III.
His publications show the fascinating search for details so far missing or overlooked, but which proved to be exceedingly necessary to the final search:
 

 
More details about Dr. John Ashdown-Hill.
 
Just recently published:

 
Dr. John Ashdown-Hill also works on a new publication about King Richard III’s brother, George Plantagenet, the Duke of Clarence – you know the always irritating one where legend has it that he ended in a butt of Malmsey wine.
 
Announced for March 2014:

 

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More book and author recommendations.