Customer Reviews

Richard III: A Royal Enigma (English Monarchs-Treasures from the National Archives)

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Richard III A royal enigma by Sean Cunningham was a disappointment. This is just a straight telling of history with no in depth details. Coming from someone who has access to national archives one might expect more use of the period documents. The documents used are those used by other historians. There is nothing new or intriguing in this book. There is no examination of any theories about Richard III. There is nothing to explain the bias of the Tudor historians such as Polydore Vergil.

It amazes me that any serious historian would use a playwright, such as Shakespeare, to explain or illustrate any historic point. Shakespeare was twisting historic facts to make an interesting story to entertain his Tudor patrons; but Cunningham references Shakespeare more heavily that one would want in a book of history.

To illustrate Cunningham's straight re-telling of accepted history I use the examination of the bones found in the Tower in 1674. He only mentions bones were found and they were examined in 1933. Then he claims DNA would probably show they were related to Edward IV. Anyone who has read reports about the bones would fine this statement hard to accept. The 1933 report shows that there is a mixture of animal bones in the Urn as well as human bones. Cunningham is correct about the DNA testing though; it would establish their relationship not only to Edward IV but to each other as there is no way to say if the two sets of bones are even related to each other.

In the end, there is nothing new in this book. It can only serve as an introduction to currently accepted historic thought about Richard III. For an examination of the controversial issues surrounding Richard III one will have to look at other books.

Wonderful depiction of Richard III and his times, daily life. Could have been even more detailed, but I want my kids to read it. Illustrations great.