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Within The Hollow Crown: A Reluctant King, A Desperate Nation, And The Most Misunderstood Reign In History (1947)

by Margaret Campbell Barnes(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1402239211 (ISBN13: 9781402239212)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Sourcebooks Landmark

review 1: Six months ago I tried to read this book and abandoned it, I'm really pleased I decided to pick it up again. The much maligned Richard II is given a new life. There are so many what if's to consider. What if his father had have died when Richard was older, what if his uncles where not so grasping and power hungry. What if Anne of Bohemia had have lived. Richard was a peaceful man forced to rule in a war-mad society, if you were not a warrior you were not a man. I really enjoyed the depiction by the author of this Richard battling the odds. Unfortuantely he made some very bad decisions and the Lancasters made his pay. What if he could have been the king he wanted to be, made peace with France, cut taxes in England, maybe been one of the best loved kings ... moreever?
review 2: If Goodreads let me, I would give this 3.5 stars. Some of the reviewers have posted that this book portrays Richard in a sympathetic light, which I actually disagree with. You do have sympathy for him because he doesn't really want to be King and by the time he gets used to the idea, he's been beaten to a bloody pulp by those around him. However, his flaws are quite obvious even though Henry's justification for "dethroning" Richard still doesn't stand in my mind. less

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