Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third

In this thoughtful study the author turns a critical eye toward the tangled web of accounts that have shaped our picture of a notorious 15th‑century English monarch. By scrutinising the birth, loyalties and education of every chronicler who survived the reign, the work shows how the very context of the writers colours the stories they left behind. The early modern scholar argues that without such detective work we risk accepting myths as fact.

The book places Richard III amid a broader critique of historical practice, noting how medieval monks, political rivals and later romantic writers have each reshaped his image to suit their own agendas. It explains why gaps in documentary evidence, the prevalence of propaganda, and the loss of contemporary records make definitive judgments elusive. Listeners will come away with a clearer sense of why the king’s reputation remains contested and what careful source analysis can reveal.