Richard III

England's Most Controversial King

By: Chris Skidmore

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From acclaimed historian Chris Skidmore comes the authoritative biography of Richard III, England's most controversial king, a man alternately praised as a saint and cursed as a villain.  

Richard III is one of English history's best known and least understood monarchs. Immortalized by Shakespeare as a hunchbacked murderer, the discovery in 2012 of his skeleton in a Leicester parking lot reignited debate over the true character of England's most controversial king.  

Richard was born into an age of brutality, when civil war gripped the land and the Yorkist dynasty clung to the crown with their fingertips. Was he really a power-crazed monster who killed his nephews or the victim of the first political smear campaign conducted by the Tudors?   

In the first full biography of Richard III for 50 years, Chris Skidmore draws on new manuscript evidence to reassess Richard's life and times. Richard III examines in intense detail Richard's inner nature and his complex relations with those around him to unravel the mystery of the last English monarch to die on the battlefield.

©2017 Chris Skidmore (P)2018 Tantor

Fair and Concise History

Richard III is one of my favorite characters from History. Though maligned throughout History, this is a fair reading and take on a dubious character. Richard was a Loyal Brother...to a point. Richard defended his brother's Realm and Reign. Made Good laws to help the lesser classes. and,
Oh Yea...Murdered his Nephews. The Rightful Heir to the throne! Twisted ccharacter by any reckoning. But, he had admirable qualities too!
Very well written. Exceptionally Well Read.

Glad I read it now that it is over

I found parts of this books to be unbearably boring while other parts extremely interesting. Covering Richard's entire life is necessary as this is a biography, but I was most interested near the end of his brother King Edward IV's life and everything to follow.

I tuned out a lot of details through the first half of the book and could feel my attention slipping at times. Once it gets into Richard's reign it really gets good.

Something I did enjoy is that the book seemed very unbiased, it didn't vilify Richard or exonerate him, it just stated the facts without opinion.

The narrator is great, I loved his voice, but the calming and steady nature of it may have been a bit of what helped me tune out the less exciting points in the story, haha.

Lots of info!

I had to listen to it little by little. It was a little dry, lots of military movements described. that stuff doesn't interest mw, personally, but someone who likes military history would be fascinating!

And then U die

This is a fine story concise enough & much chronicle from eyewitness or at least contemporaries. If U like the war of the roses jump in!

terrific

a great biography which states the facts clearly - as best we can know them - and without an agenda. I highly reccomend it.

We all want Richard to be innocent, but.....

This audio book is really informative and very clear about Richard's beginnings as a duke and his end as king. There's no bias opinions... instead recounts different chronicles of the period from foreign visitors and citizens who described the events and actions of Richard.

I really recommend it.

I'm a Richard III fan and this was beyond boring

Maybe I should haven't listened to a great biography of Edward Longshanks first - "The Great and Terrible King" by Marc Morris - because, in comparison, this biography was snooze-inducing (and I listen while I hike!). The reading is leaden and without any understanding of who is involved. Could barely get an hour into it before giving up.