Awards

• Short-listed for Parliamentary Book Awards: Best Non-Fiction by a Parliamentarian 2017 (UK)

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Full Product Details

9781780226415

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Reviews

No monarch in British history excites greater curiosity ... This first-rate book of some 400 pages will be read with great profit and pleasure by fellow historians - and by all those who simply enjoy learning about dramatic episodes in the past from a fine writer -- Lord Lexden * The House Magazine * Skidmore successfully creates a balanced biography of the famously complicated last king of the Yorkist line ... [T]his carefully researched biography effectively captures Richard's turbulent reign and intense personality up to the violent end * Publishers Weekly * [Examines hostile indictments of Richard III] with sharp writing and a marvellously exhaustive command of contemporary documentary sources ... In the author's hands, there's no lack of thrilling details in Richard's saga ... His biography bids fair to become the definitive account for the twenty-first century -- Bob Duffy * Washington Independent Review of Books * This first-rate book ... will be read with great profit and pleasure by fellow historians, and by all those who simply enjoy learning about dramatic episodes in the past from a fine writer -- Alistair Lexden * The London Magazine * King Richard III is one of the most divisive figures in history, but this new biography aims to ignore the controversy and return to the facts: his personality, motivations and allegiances. How single-minded was his pursuit of power, and what role did he really play in the deaths of his young nephews? * History Revealed * Scholarly and genuinely objective ... Skidmore is adept at placing in proper perspective the dilemmas that faced Richard ... Highly readable -- Andrew Roberts * Wall Street Journal * It is all but impossible to write either something fresh, or something fair, about Richard III, yet Chris Skidmore has pulled off both feats. Wide-ranging research brings out a Richard who is neither the crookbacked villain nor the victim, but a man for all political seasons, whose fall illumines his violent, complex age -- Sarah Gristwood, author of <i>Game of Queens</i> Skidmore's new biography of Richard is a full and measured account of his subject ... [He] tells the story with style and the empathy of a well-trained historian ... Skidmore has given us an eminently readable account of Richard's life and reign, firmly anchored in fifteenth-century politics and culture -- David Grummitt * Times Literary Supplement * Richard III, of all the English monarchs, deserves a fair hearing and Chris Skidmore's meticulous account does justice to this vilified king. With forensic detail, Skidmore looks at sources as well as rumours to build a picture of the last Plantagenet monarch. What shines out from this modern biography is the author's attempt to be fair to the last English king to ride in battle, who took murderous decisions in life; but died a hero -- Philippa Gregory A fresh, gripping and vivid portrait of a Richard III who is not just chilling, ruthless and terrifying but also a practical politician in a brutal age - a man of his time -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Exhaustively researched, scrupulously even-handed and a genuinely fresh approach to one of the most ploughed-over and controversial reigns in English history. Skidmore neatly sidesteps the by-now sterile controversy about Richard's character and draws instead on the unusually full documentation of the reign to offer a detailed and persuasive narrative of what Richard actually did - and, at least as importantly, what he was thought to have done -- David Starkey A portrait that chills you to the bone ... Skidmore describes Richard's death in horrifying detail ... It marks the bloody climax to a biography in which the unfolding horror comes from the slow burn of detail drawn from manuscript sources and recent scholarship judiciously presented, and in a story well told -- Leanda de Lisle * THE TIMES *

Skidmore successfully creates a balanced biography of the famously complicated last king of the Yorkist line ... [T]his carefully researched biography effectively captures Richard's turbulent reign and intense personality up to the violent end * Publishers Weekly * King Richard III is one of the most divisive figures in history, but this new biography aims to ignore the controversy and return to the facts: his personality, motivations and allegiances. How single-minded was his pursuit of power, and what role did he really play in the deaths of his young nephews? * History Revealed * Richard III, of all the English monarchs, deserves a fair hearing and Chris Skidmore's meticulous account does justice to this vilified king. With forensic detail, Skidmore looks at sources as well as rumours to build a picture of the last Plantagenet monarch. What shines out from this modern biography is the author's attempt to be fair to the last English king to ride in battle, who took murderous decisions in life; but died a hero -- Philippa Gregory This first-rate book ... will be read with great profit and pleasure by fellow historians, and by all those who simply enjoy learning about dramatic episodes in the past from a fine writer -- Alistair Lexden * The London Magazine * It is all but impossible to write either something fresh, or something fair, about Richard III, yet Chris Skidmore has pulled off both feats. Wide-ranging research brings out a Richard who is neither the crookbacked villain nor the victim, but a man for all political seasons, whose fall illumines his violent, complex age -- Sarah Gristwood, author of <i>Game of Queens</i> Skidmore's new biography of Richard is a full and measured account of his subject ... [He] tells the story with style and the empathy of a well-trained historian ... Skidmore has given us an eminently readable account of Richard's life and reign, firmly anchored in fifteenth-century politics and culture -- David Grummitt * Times Literary Supplement * A fresh, gripping and vivid portrait of a Richard III who is not just chilling, ruthless and terrifying but also a practical politician in a brutal age - a man of his time -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Exhaustively researched, scrupulously even-handed and a genuinely fresh approach to one of the most ploughed-over and controversial reigns in English history. Skidmore neatly sidesteps the by-now sterile controversy about Richard's character and draws instead on the unusually full documentation of the reign to offer a detailed and persuasive narrative of what Richard actually did - and, at least as importantly, what he was thought to have done -- David Starkey A portrait that chills you to the bone ... Skidmore describes Richard's death in horrifying detail ... It marks the bloody climax to a biography in which the unfolding horror comes from the slow burn of detail drawn from manuscript sources and recent scholarship judiciously presented, and in a story well told -- Leanda de Lisle * THE TIMES *

A portrait that chills you to the bone ... The unfolding horror comes from the slow burn of detail drawn from manuscript sources and recent scholarship judiciously presented, and in a story well told - The Times Thrillingly paced, meticulously researched, refreshingly free of psychological speculations, Skidmore's supremely insightful biography is a joy to read Eminently readable ... Skidmore tells the story with style and the empathy of a well-trained historian - Times Literary Supplement

[Examines hostile indictments of Richard III] with sharp writing and a marvellously exhaustive command of contemporary documentary sources ... In the author's hands, there's no lack of thrilling details in Richard's saga ... His biography bids fair to become the definitive account for the twenty-first century -- Bob Duffy * WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF BOOKS (USA) * Skidmore successfully creates a balanced biography of the famously complicated last king of the Yorkist line ... [T]his carefully researched biography effectively captures Richard's turbulent reign and intense personality up to the violent end * Publishers Weekly * [Examines hostile indictments of Richard III] with sharp writing and a marvellously exhaustive command of contemporary documentary sources ... In the author's hands, there's no lack of thrilling details in Richard's saga ... His biography bids fair to become the definitive account for the twenty-first century -- Bob Duffy * Washington Independent Review of Books * This first-rate book ... will be read with great profit and pleasure by fellow historians, and by all those who simply enjoy learning about dramatic episodes in the past from a fine writer -- Alistair Lexden * The London Magazine * King Richard III is one of the most divisive figures in history, but this new biography aims to ignore the controversy and return to the facts: his personality, motivations and allegiances. How single-minded was his pursuit of power, and what role did he really play in the deaths of his young nephews? * History Revealed * It is all but impossible to write either something fresh, or something fair, about Richard III, yet Chris Skidmore has pulled off both feats. Wide-ranging research brings out a Richard who is neither the crookbacked villain nor the victim, but a man for all political seasons, whose fall illumines his violent, complex age -- Sarah Gristwood, author of <i>Game of Queens</i> Skidmore's new biography of Richard is a full and measured account of his subject ... [He] tells the story with style and the empathy of a well-trained historian ... Skidmore has given us an eminently readable account of Richard's life and reign, firmly anchored in fifteenth-century politics and culture -- David Grummitt * Times Literary Supplement * Richard III, of all the English monarchs, deserves a fair hearing and Chris Skidmore's meticulous account does justice to this vilified king. With forensic detail, Skidmore looks at sources as well as rumours to build a picture of the last Plantagenet monarch. What shines out from this modern biography is the author's attempt to be fair to the last English king to ride in battle, who took murderous decisions in life; but died a hero -- Philippa Gregory A fresh, gripping and vivid portrait of a Richard III who is not just chilling, ruthless and terrifying but also a practical politician in a brutal age - a man of his time -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Exhaustively researched, scrupulously even-handed and a genuinely fresh approach to one of the most ploughed-over and controversial reigns in English history. Skidmore neatly sidesteps the by-now sterile controversy about Richard's character and draws instead on the unusually full documentation of the reign to offer a detailed and persuasive narrative of what Richard actually did - and, at least as importantly, what he was thought to have done -- David Starkey A portrait that chills you to the bone ... Skidmore describes Richard's death in horrifying detail ... It marks the bloody climax to a biography in which the unfolding horror comes from the slow burn of detail drawn from manuscript sources and recent scholarship judiciously presented, and in a story well told -- Leanda de Lisle * THE TIMES *

Skidmore successfully creates a balanced biography of the famously complicated last king of the Yorkist line ... [T]his carefully researched biography effectively captures Richard's turbulent reign and intense personality up to the violent end * Publishers Weekly * [Examines hostile indictments of Richard III] with sharp writing and a marvellously exhaustive command of contemporary documentary sources ... In the author's hands, there's no lack of thrilling details in Richard's saga ... His biography bids fair to become the definitive account for the twenty-first century -- Bob Duffy * Washington Independent Review of Books * This first-rate book ... will be read with great profit and pleasure by fellow historians, and by all those who simply enjoy learning about dramatic episodes in the past from a fine writer -- Alistair Lexden * The London Magazine * King Richard III is one of the most divisive figures in history, but this new biography aims to ignore the controversy and return to the facts: his personality, motivations and allegiances. How single-minded was his pursuit of power, and what role did he really play in the deaths of his young nephews? * History Revealed * It is all but impossible to write either something fresh, or something fair, about Richard III, yet Chris Skidmore has pulled off both feats. Wide-ranging research brings out a Richard who is neither the crookbacked villain nor the victim, but a man for all political seasons, whose fall illumines his violent, complex age -- Sarah Gristwood, author of <i>Game of Queens</i> Skidmore's new biography of Richard is a full and measured account of his subject ... [He] tells the story with style and the empathy of a well-trained historian ... Skidmore has given us an eminently readable account of Richard's life and reign, firmly anchored in fifteenth-century politics and culture -- David Grummitt * Times Literary Supplement * Richard III, of all the English monarchs, deserves a fair hearing and Chris Skidmore's meticulous account does justice to this vilified king. With forensic detail, Skidmore looks at sources as well as rumours to build a picture of the last Plantagenet monarch. What shines out from this modern biography is the author's attempt to be fair to the last English king to ride in battle, who took murderous decisions in life; but died a hero -- Philippa Gregory A fresh, gripping and vivid portrait of a Richard III who is not just chilling, ruthless and terrifying but also a practical politician in a brutal age - a man of his time -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Exhaustively researched, scrupulously even-handed and a genuinely fresh approach to one of the most ploughed-over and controversial reigns in English history. Skidmore neatly sidesteps the by-now sterile controversy about Richard's character and draws instead on the unusually full documentation of the reign to offer a detailed and persuasive narrative of what Richard actually did - and, at least as importantly, what he was thought to have done -- David Starkey A portrait that chills you to the bone ... Skidmore describes Richard's death in horrifying detail ... It marks the bloody climax to a biography in which the unfolding horror comes from the slow burn of detail drawn from manuscript sources and recent scholarship judiciously presented, and in a story well told -- Leanda de Lisle * THE TIMES *

No monarch in British history excites greater curiosity ... This first-rate book of some 400 pages will be read with great profit and pleasure by fellow historians - and by all those who simply enjoy learning about dramatic episodes in the past from a fine writer -- Lord Lexden * THE HOUSE MAGAZINE * Skidmore successfully creates a balanced biography of the famously complicated last king of the Yorkist line ... [T]his carefully researched biography effectively captures Richard's turbulent reign and intense personality up to the violent end * Publishers Weekly * [Examines hostile indictments of Richard III] with sharp writing and a marvellously exhaustive command of contemporary documentary sources ... In the author's hands, there's no lack of thrilling details in Richard's saga ... His biography bids fair to become the definitive account for the twenty-first century -- Bob Duffy * Washington Independent Review of Books * This first-rate book ... will be read with great profit and pleasure by fellow historians, and by all those who simply enjoy learning about dramatic episodes in the past from a fine writer -- Alistair Lexden * The London Magazine * King Richard III is one of the most divisive figures in history, but this new biography aims to ignore the controversy and return to the facts: his personality, motivations and allegiances. How single-minded was his pursuit of power, and what role did he really play in the deaths of his young nephews? * History Revealed * It is all but impossible to write either something fresh, or something fair, about Richard III, yet Chris Skidmore has pulled off both feats. Wide-ranging research brings out a Richard who is neither the crookbacked villain nor the victim, but a man for all political seasons, whose fall illumines his violent, complex age -- Sarah Gristwood, author of <i>Game of Queens</i> Skidmore's new biography of Richard is a full and measured account of his subject ... [He] tells the story with style and the empathy of a well-trained historian ... Skidmore has given us an eminently readable account of Richard's life and reign, firmly anchored in fifteenth-century politics and culture -- David Grummitt * Times Literary Supplement * Richard III, of all the English monarchs, deserves a fair hearing and Chris Skidmore's meticulous account does justice to this vilified king. With forensic detail, Skidmore looks at sources as well as rumours to build a picture of the last Plantagenet monarch. What shines out from this modern biography is the author's attempt to be fair to the last English king to ride in battle, who took murderous decisions in life; but died a hero -- Philippa Gregory A fresh, gripping and vivid portrait of a Richard III who is not just chilling, ruthless and terrifying but also a practical politician in a brutal age - a man of his time -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Exhaustively researched, scrupulously even-handed and a genuinely fresh approach to one of the most ploughed-over and controversial reigns in English history. Skidmore neatly sidesteps the by-now sterile controversy about Richard's character and draws instead on the unusually full documentation of the reign to offer a detailed and persuasive narrative of what Richard actually did - and, at least as importantly, what he was thought to have done -- David Starkey A portrait that chills you to the bone ... Skidmore describes Richard's death in horrifying detail ... It marks the bloody climax to a biography in which the unfolding horror comes from the slow burn of detail drawn from manuscript sources and recent scholarship judiciously presented, and in a story well told -- Leanda de Lisle * THE TIMES *

Author Information

Chris Skidmore is the author of four books on medieval and Tudor history: RICHARD III, BOSWORTH, EDWARD VI and DEATH AND THE VIRGIN. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is also the Member of Parliament for Kingswood and in December 2018 was appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. www.chrisskidmore.co.uk @bosworthbattle

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