Richard III discussion

There are a lot of new books now out about the unearthing of Richard III's skeleton. Some of them are a little fluffy and even involve ESP. I am looking for something for a Christmas present that is more scholarly. What would you say is the seminal work? Thanks.

If you do not have them, I would recommend Paul Murray Kendall's Richard the Third in nonfiction and Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour in fiction. Those would be the top two for me. As far as newer books go. It's kind of a toss-up for me as to which I would recommend. I tend to read pretty much anything that isn't total garbage, because I want to know what is out there.

This is for my husband, and the Sunne in Splendour has to be one of his very favourite books. Can't count how many copies he has given to people. I will check out Kendall's work. Is this specifically about the discovery of the bones?

Blast! Just checked his bookshelf. He has Kendall's book. I am looking for something specifically about the discovery of the skeleton.

Hi Penny, I think the best two factual books recently about Richard are Annette Carson's "The Maligned King" and John Ashdown-Hill's "The Last Days of Richard III" - both of which have had new (updated) editions since the discovery of Richard's grave and both of which are by members of the Looking for Richard project team who did the prior research for, paid for and organized the dig. Sadly both have been sidelined by the circus that has happened since, which is probably what has spawned most of the books you mention. Philippa Langley's "The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III" is written by the woman who was the main driving force behind the project: it chronicles the dig itself, alongside a (fairly traditional, I understand, i.e. non-Ricardian) retelling of Richard's life by Michael Jones (I have this but haven't yet read it). "Finding Richard III: The Official Account" by the three above Ricardians plus fellow LFR team members Wendy and David Johnson is probably the most accurate story of the project, having been written by those who began the project and fought for years for it to be undertaken, before it was hijacked by the University of Leicester et al. It's available from Annette's and John's websites and also the LFR website, which carries the true story of the whole project and what has happened since: http://looking-for-richard.webs.com/f... I hope this helps.

Perfect. That is exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you.

FYI, they do not ship outside the UK, but I am contacting one of the authors directly. It is not expensive either.

Sorry Penny, hadn't realized that, but glad to hear the book may be of interest. Hopefully Annette or John may be able to help. Let me know if not - perhaps I'll be able to.

Carol recommendations are the ones I would have picked. And some of those books, such as John Ashdown-Hill's are available as ebooks.