Many either were people influenced by the monarchs they wrote the chronicles for or were actual friends of said monarchs and all those monarchs in question had a strong interest in Richard III being an evil demon while everyone else was innocent in every way. However, her sources are one thing I do not agree with in this book. Only read the review if you don't mind.Īs in her first book about the WOTR, this author shows a lot of skill and diligence in collecting data and quoting sources to make her points. I love history and I love mysteries so it was only a matter of time before I read more about The Princes in the Tower - especially considering that Brad and I covered the first part of The Wars of the Roses (WOTR) in August.įor anyone wanting to read this: yes, there might be a few facts I'm going to state that could be considered spoilers. But don't read it expecting a logical argument or historical, non-agenda-driven honesty. Read it to get a sense of the historical drama, and to pick up the set of the stage and a sense of the major players. Instead, I found a myriad of holes in Weir's historicity and reasoning-including places where she actually contradicts herself.

I really wanted to see both sides of the argument. I wanted her to convince me that Richard was guilty as neatly as Tey had convinced me that he was innocent. I read this right after reading Josephine Tey's excellent and eye-opening The Daughter of Time, because I thought it was only fair to get an anti-Richard opinion before I decided where on the spectrum my opinions lay. Unfortunately, Weir did not go into writing this book with an open mind-she went in condemning Richard, and it shows. That said, it's an excellent overview of the historical scenario of the time-it's very readable, if a bit pulpy. I actually told my library that I lost it and paid for it so I could keep the copy I had scribbled angry comments in the margins. This is my favorite book to mutter angrily at.

Join the Circle for author chats and more. We are witnesses to the rivalry, ambition, intrigue, and struggle for power that culminated in the imprisonment of the princes and the hushed-up murders that secured Richard’s claim to the throne as Richard III.Ī masterpiece of historical research and a riveting story of conspiracy and deception, The Princes in the Tower at last provides a solution to this age-old puzzle. Did Richard III really kill “the Princes in the Tower,” as is commonly believed, or was the murderer someone else entirely?Ĭarefully examining every shred of contemporary evidence as well as dozens of modern accounts, Alison Weir reconstructs the entire chain of events leading to the double murder. Despite five centuries of investigation by historians, the sinister deaths of the boy king Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, remain two of the most fascinating murder mysteries in English history.

The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir