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The King's Grave: The Discovery Of Richard III's Lost Burial Place And The Clues It Holds (2013)

by Michael K. Jones(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1250044103 (ISBN13: 9781250044105)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

St. Martin's Press

review 1: The subject matter of this book really was fascinating, and I liked the way the modern-day search for Richard's burial site was intertwined with historical chapters about his life and reign. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the book was tempered by mounting irritation with co-author Philippa Langley. Put bluntly, Langley is a drama queen who is overfond of her own cleverness and far too emotionally invested in the life and death of someone who's been gone for 500 years. From the first pages, where she describes her goosebump-laden, instinctive feeling that she'd found the king's grave, her personal obsession with Richard is often a distraction from the narrative. For example, one of the most interesting parts of the book, the analysis of Richard's skeleton and the wounds he'... mored received in his final battle, was marred by Philippa Langley's focus on her own, wildly inappropriate reactions: swooning and traumatized and generally behaving as though she's having to hear the details of how one of her loved ones has died. I can't imagine what it must have been like for all the archaeologists and academics who worked on this project to deal with her melodrama. I am glad I read this book and I definitely learned from it, but I can't help but wish the tone had been more objective and professional, and less like a 14-year-old talking about meeting Harry Styles.
review 2: A remarkably engaging, tandem account of the search for King Richard's remains written by Philippa Langley and noted, medieval historian Michael Jones who I have the pleasure to say, taught me briefly at University. Jones contributes a typically even-handed, crystal clear disquisition on the controversy over Richard's reputation. On any fair reckoning, the King was obliged to be a player in the realpolitik of his times but certainly not the venomous 'bottled spider' of Shakespeare's play. It seems that in comparison to other medieval rulers there is plenty of evidence to suggest that he was a compassionate and able overlord. How refreshing that scholars and enthusiasts are beginning to repair our knowledge of his character within the constraints of the time in which he lived. The curmudgeonly and sometimes frankly misogynistic, personal criticism of Jones' co-author, Philippa Langley, in some reviews of this book is concerning. Langley writes well in a journalistic style and her passionate commitment to the project is commendable. Her pre-excavation intuition that King Richard's grave lay under a couple of square metres of tarmac, exactly where it was later found, cannot be denied and has astounded even the experienced archaeologists who carried out the dig. (For Evidence of this fact, see the video interview with one of the lead archaeologists on the University of Leicester's 'FutureLearn' Course on Richard III.) This is a very readable book with valuable contributions from both authors. less

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