Richard III

The Self-Made King

By: Michael Hicks

Narrated by: Matthew Waterson

Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Richard the lll. Life review

The span of historical data is incredibly large with detailed information on expenses, soldiers and army, military personnel and leaders. The issue I have is that is not engaging and lacks personal touch. Ie his personal relationships with his wife, mother, child, brother, etc. I believe the narrator delivered the lines as well as can be expected but it reminded me of being in a lecture format that goes on and on. Yes, I’ve learned more about King Richard lll and yes it was educational and well researched but in my opinion the audio format could have been improved.

Wonderfully in depth, though a bit dull.

I fully appreciate the attention to detail and the extensive research that the author engaged in. If you want to know more about the notorious Richard III, I highly recommend this book. But be ready for some long winded details. Having said that, I much prefer this to Shakespeare’s maligned version.

Splendid

I do not often learn much when reading about this era. In this case I did.

This is why an expert can ruin a subject.

Let me preface this by saying I love history and read a lot of historical texts, however this book was pure drudgery. Mr. Hicks certainly knows his stuff. He has researched thoroughly and it shows. Unfortunately I found this tiresome. The reams of names of people that bought things, or fought for Richard or against him, names of people that did not go down in history but are recorded in obscure documents were off-putting. Also the arguments against other historians or diarists was jarring. It distracted from the story and made this book read like a PhD. thesis. The narrator was obviously unexcited by the material as well. Definitely not for me.

Better than ambien

If you are interested in the detailed and dull minutia of Richard iii, then dive in. Otherwise, walk away. Could not even finish it and I love this type of history.

Facts, not narrative

If you're a historian, this book contains a lot of facts you might find useful. If you're a reader looking for the story of Richard III's life, you won't find it here. I kept rewinding to try to figure out what I was missing because there was no narrative through-line. I finally gave up.

Pretty dry & halting narrator

I started listening to this cause I can't find an audiobook of Kendall's Richard III book anywhere. This one is ok, pretty dry & lots of lists where he should have just named a few representative items & cited the source. I actually found the introduction where he discusses sources the most interesting part so far! The narrator is pretty stilted & halting, he takes odd pauses that interrupt the flow of the narrative. I doubt I'll finish this one.

Monetized Thesis. Not an audio book

Not much else to add. I’ve no doubt a lot of research went into this but it is not an audiobook.

The sample given is not the beginning of the book which would have been a clear indication of what this book was about as it is a long list of the other academic works of the author.

I’ve bought hundreds of books on Audible. Returned a handful and resent not being allowed to return this one.