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Richard III

The Self-Made King

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Richard III

By: Michael Hicks
Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
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About this listen

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 Europe Great Britain Historical Medieval Military & War Politicians Politics & Activism Royalty England Middle Ages Tudor War United Kingdom

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Do not expect a chronology of the Wars of the Roses or indeed Richard III's reign. This is a highly technical and analytical look at the man who was to become (in)famous as the last English king to die in battle. It is extremely detailed, an academic work that few other Roses or Ricardian historians cover - and in consequence it does tell us more about the man than many other "biographies". It sets Richard's rule in context and does give us an insight into the man and his times, but sometimes leaves us wondering still about his motivations. The book seems well sourced and researched, and on balance Richard is treated fairly - perhaps unusually given his "marmite" nature to most students of the WotR. Highly recommended for serious students but if you are looking for a simple story of his life, reign and the end of the Plantagenet era, look elsewhere. This gives exhaustive detail of his residences, often his financial accounts, his circumstances but without a basic understanding of the wars, you might be left confused and wondering.

Highly detailed analysis, sloppy performance

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Great listen and such a good story, but irritated by numerous mispronounced place names.

Good but irritated by mispronounced place names

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If you are looking for a good, meaty, analytical volume that dissects the Tudor propagandistic sources of Richard III usefully, with fairness, thoroughness and (almost) impartiality, in a gripping and engaging way, this is the book for you. It is great.

However, some of the author’s grounds for the approaches he takes are fundamentally, and cardinally, inconsistent and thus problematic for the angle and conclusions of his overall account in ways that can’t be overlooked. thus undermining some of his analyses to the detriment of much of his own subjective discourse.

For example, he immediately discounts basing any of his discussion on findings to do with the ‘probable’ remains found in Leicester Car Park, and the archaeology to be had from them, on the grounds that even with perfect DNA evidence and overwhelming other cumulative evidence, we can’t be SURE they are the mortal remains of Richard III.

However, when dissecting Tudor portraits of Richard as hunchbacked, disfigured and deformed he then cites the evidence of scoliosis thrown up by those same bones as archaeological substantiation for an element of truth to these portraits, even though subsequent experiments whose findings were available to the author at time of writing have since shown that someone of Richard’s rank, in Richard’s career and with Richard’s degree of curvature would not have been significantly disfigured or impeded in the medieval world. He also cites archaeology to base his discussion of the Battle of Bosworth.

He argues that we have to go on the grounds of probability based on accounts nearest the time, and that even if they were propaganda they would have been based on what would have rang true at the time based on living memory (memory of those NOT executed for being loyal to Richard!). However, he refuses to adopt the same ‘balance of probability’ approach to the Leicester bones, despite the probability of their being Richard’s being far greater than the probability of Tudor propaganda being accurate to as useful a degree as his commentary relies upon. The book is flawed.

That being said, readers can think - and judge - for themselves, and if you look past these queries and biases it is a VERY engaging and useful resource on the king and the context surrounding him.

A Great but Flawed Biography of a Great But Flawed King

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Not overly impressed, the author was quite biased in some of his assumptions and belittles Richards prowess on the battle field. He doesnt even point out to the reader that Henry Tudor had dismounted when he realised Richard was heading in his direction and hid behind his pikesmen not very impressive for his time. He fails to accept the evidence that Richard has been found and yet a few chapters later he recommends DNA analysis for the bones found in the tower. In one chapter when Cecilly left her youngest children in London to visit her husband their elder brother Edward visits them according to the author this was polically motivated as his siblings would be useful to him when they came of age, how on earth did he come to this conclusion?

One Too Many assumptions

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Not a fan of the narrator. Sometimes highly biased and judging, making assumptions, but I think shows the high capability of Richard, and given my low regards of the Tudor dynasty, makes one wonder how the world would have been if Richard had won. You can not but appreciate the people who followed him, and how the country and much of Europe would been different if not for his defeat in the end.

A true ‘what could have been’-King.

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Meticulously researched, the one thing which really stood out was how little remains of what must have been vast quantities of letters, orders, legal decisions, payment records and all.of the other paper paraphernalia of a busy, fast moving period of change - even Richard's will is missing. Probably fortunate since Michael Hicks seemed to determined to mention every little piece he did uncover and delighted in telling how much, to the farthing, were the costs listed.
As a portrait of the boy to man to king to legend, there was very little new, but it was interesting for anyone truly committed to discovering as much as possible about this remarkable man and how much he actually achieved in his brief (two year) reign

Narration was reasonable but delivery could have been smoother. Matthew Waterson had a fine voice but also an annoying habit of reading with frequent tiny, inappropriate pauses which made listening difficult and was distracting. Initially I gave up on my listening only returning some months later to continue. It made the book hard work as a listen.

Recommended but not for beginners and probably better, where possible, as a print read.
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"The most. Christian prince, King Richard III."

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This book delivers an different but interesting angle on a much discussed topic. With its attention to precise data that are explored in great detail it's a must-have for students of history. However, the production has been seriously compromised by the narrator. His rapid, staccato deliver of the narrative makes it extremely difficult to absorb these details in any meaningful way. This is, as I it, see is the backbone of this book. The only way I overcame the problem was to run the delivery at three-quarter speed, which bring its own set of problems. So maybe not a must-have.

Quicker is not Better

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This carefully researched book was read in such a slapdash manner as to undermine the credibility of the content. Names of people and places were mangled as were historical terms. It is impossible to select a single example as there were so many. Who did the audio edit?

Good content marred by constant mispronunciations

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I am accustomed to really bad pronunciation from Americans, but Englishmen should know better. awful

appalling mispronunciations

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I enjoyed the book and the author’s arguments for Richard, he points out some facts that I had never heard of before. He gives us evidence and theories that this prolific monarch was not the evil tyrannical man we have all been brought up to believe. The book is overwhelming in facts and figures though so sometimes I got a little lost. However, I may have been able to take more in if the narrator had not been so bad at pronouncing the names of people and places. Is Matthew Waterson a real person? He sound more like my narrator on my computer than a real person?

The Narration is awful.

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