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A review by nonna7
Digging for Richard III: The Search for the Lost King by Mike Pitts
5.0
"History is written by the victors." Winston Churchill
As a 12 yr old, I read a book called The Last Plantagenet, an utterly romantic book of historical fiction narrated by a young commoner who is the mistress of Richard III. The author makes the case, through this narration, that Richard III was vilified by history. Josephine Tey wrote a book about a bed bound detective who investigates the story and finds enough in the historical record to indicate that Richard III was NOT the villain that Shakespeare made him out to be. (Regardless of that, Richard III is an amazing play. The film starring Ian McClellan which places Richard III in a 1930's Nazi Britain is wonderful.) Shakespeare was, after all, trying to make the regime, Tudors, look good. Or so some would say. Perhaps he truly believed the stories that make Richard out to be evil and twisted, both in body and mind. A few months ago, I was listening to NPR which featured an interview with Mike Pitts, British archaeologist and author of this book. Happily, our library bought some copies. This is a fascinating and (mostly) absorbing book. It demonstrates the power of an individual, in this case, Phillipa Langley, a screenwriter and "presenter" who fell ill and took a book with her on vacation - one that most of us would not pick up. It was a book written in the 50's that said that history had it all wrong: Richard III was actually a good guy. By sheer force of will and her ability to connect with people, she literally gets the ball rolling. Who knew that there are Ricardian societies all over the world who love Richard III and defend his honor? Ms. Langley was able to get them excited enough to help with the project financially. The rest of the story in in this book. What got me interested was learning that they had found his skeleton under a car park in Leceistershire. If history and/or archaeology interest you, then get this book. It's a blast.
As a 12 yr old, I read a book called The Last Plantagenet, an utterly romantic book of historical fiction narrated by a young commoner who is the mistress of Richard III. The author makes the case, through this narration, that Richard III was vilified by history. Josephine Tey wrote a book about a bed bound detective who investigates the story and finds enough in the historical record to indicate that Richard III was NOT the villain that Shakespeare made him out to be. (Regardless of that, Richard III is an amazing play. The film starring Ian McClellan which places Richard III in a 1930's Nazi Britain is wonderful.) Shakespeare was, after all, trying to make the regime, Tudors, look good. Or so some would say. Perhaps he truly believed the stories that make Richard out to be evil and twisted, both in body and mind. A few months ago, I was listening to NPR which featured an interview with Mike Pitts, British archaeologist and author of this book. Happily, our library bought some copies. This is a fascinating and (mostly) absorbing book. It demonstrates the power of an individual, in this case, Phillipa Langley, a screenwriter and "presenter" who fell ill and took a book with her on vacation - one that most of us would not pick up. It was a book written in the 50's that said that history had it all wrong: Richard III was actually a good guy. By sheer force of will and her ability to connect with people, she literally gets the ball rolling. Who knew that there are Ricardian societies all over the world who love Richard III and defend his honor? Ms. Langley was able to get them excited enough to help with the project financially. The rest of the story in in this book. What got me interested was learning that they had found his skeleton under a car park in Leceistershire. If history and/or archaeology interest you, then get this book. It's a blast.