The King's Grave by Philippa Langley, Michael Jones

The King's Grave

by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones

Discover the official inside story of the life, death and remarkable discovery of history's most controversial monarch.

On 22 August 1485 Richard III was killed at Bosworth Field, the last king of England to die in battle. His victorious opponent, Henry Tudor (the future Henry VII), went on to found one of our most famous ruling dynasties. Richard's body was displayed in undignified fashion for two days in nearby Leicester and then hurriedly buried in the church of the Greyfriars. Fifty years later, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the king's grave was lost - its contents believed to be emptied into the river Soar - and Richard III's reputation buried under a mound of Tudor propaganda. Its culmination was Shakespeare's compelling portrayal of a deformed and murderous villain, written over a hundred years after Richard's death.

Now - in an incredible find - Richard III's remains have been uncovered beneath a car park in Leicester. The King's Grave traces this remarkable journey. In alternate chapters, Philippa Langley, whose years of research and belief that she would find Richard in this exact spot inspired the project, reveals the inside story of the search for the king's grave, and historian Michael Jones tells of Richard's fifteenth-century life and death. The result is a compelling portrayal of one of our greatest archaeological discoveries, allowing a complete re-evaluation of our most controversial monarch - one that discards the distortions of later Tudor histories and puts the man firmly back into the context of his times.

Reviewed by Lianne on

3 of 5 stars

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Reading the modern day chapters on the dig, it was really interesting how the team eventually came to uncover Richard III’s final resting place. A lot of work obviously went into verifying and protecting the bones and the reader learns a lot about what it’s like to go through the process of digging and discovery and the meticulous process of recovering.

As someone who studied history though and worked on literary works as part of her thesis, it was the historical chapters that interested me more. Michael Jones’ chapters is an interesting exercise in balancing out public preconceptions about Richard III, to see if the ideas we associate with him was the result of a radical campaign on the Tudors’ part to slander his image (culminating in the play written by William Shakespeare). It’s tricky work to sort through this material and while I’m not very familiar with this part of British history, the questions he raises throughout the book are interesting ones to consider.

I’m not entirely sure who the target audience is for this book given the overlap of academic fields involved in the endeavour. Nonetheless students and lovers of British history, particularly the period of the War of the Roses, would likely be interested to check out The King’s Grave.

This review was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/10/27/review-the-kings-grave/

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  • Started reading
  • 19 October, 2013: Finished reading
  • 19 October, 2013: Reviewed