When archaeologists unearthed the battered mortal remains of King Richard III beneath a council car park in Leicester in 2012, they not only made the historical find of the century (so far) but unleashed a veritable frenzy of media attention on a ruler already the most notorious in English history.
A stream of books, articles (both scholarly and popular), documentary films and newspaper opinion pieces poured forth, and Richard’s troubled life and times became front-page news until his bones were once more laid to rest earlier this year.
David Horspool, a qualified medieval historian (he is history editor of the TLS and a contributor to this Spectator space), sensibly waited until the hysteria had abated before contributing this careful analysis of Richard, his reign and his reputation. It was well worth waiting for since, coming from such an impeccably objective source, its conclusions are all the more damning.
Horspool declares at the outset that he is not going to pronounce on the question that everyone wants to know about Richard: was he or was he not responsible for the terminal disappearance of his nephews, the ‘Princes in the Tower’? But this is clearly a matter of humouring his acknowledged helpers in the Richard III Society, since by the end of his book there can be little doubt that Horspool sides with almost all serious historians who have looked into the matter: Richard was not only a child killer, a tyrant, and a mass murderer of his rivals, but a thoroughly bad king into the bargain.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in