Book Reviews
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Most people, even if they haven’t read/tried to read, the ancient British poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, will at least know the opening scene. It’s Christmas at Camelot, and King Arthur and his knights are enjoying themselves, feasting and celebrating, when into the hall rides a huge knight who carries a sprig of holly.…
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This post harks back to a previous one of 5th November 2014. Both concern the similarities between the lives and deaths of Richard II and Richard III, but I have now come upon a passage in a book that is actually about Richard II, but much of which could be applied to Richard III. The book…
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This fascinating book follows the life and career of the medieval King Edward IV’s personal doctor, brings to life so much of the era and in particular explains the medical knowledge, practices and advances of the times. Many commonly believed myths and mistakes regarding historical events and characters are covered and smoothed over with clarity…
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There is a new Ricardian children’s author on the block: Alex Marchant. Alex kindly agreed to an interview: Q: You’ve recently published your first novel about King Richard III for children, The Order of the White Boar. What made you write about King Richard? Alex: I first became interested in King Richard in my teens…
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“Matthew Ward is a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, researching “The Culture of Loyalty in Fifteenth-Century England.” The project constitutes the first major attempt to define and understand political loyalty to the crown and secular lords in England, 1400-1500: how it was manifested; how it developed and how it was discussed in political and…
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Murrey and Blue interviews Michael K. Jones
“The King’s Mother”, “Tudors”, Aquitaine, BBC History Magazine, Castile, Chandos Herald, chivalry, Crecy, David Baldwin, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, Enrique of Trastamara, France, Froissart, Henry of Knighton, Henry VI, Henry VII, Hundred Years War, interviews, Jean II, John Gower, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Lionel of Antwerp, Lords Appellant, Malcolm Underwood, Michael K Jones, Military tactics, Mortimers, Najera, Pedro I, Poitiers, Polydore Vergil, propaganda, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard III, siege of Limoges, St. John’s College Cambridge, Thomas Brinton, Thomas Walsingham, tyranny, Wars of the Roses, Westminster Hall, YorkistsWhich of the Black Prince’s military achievements is the most impressive and why? The main attraction in writing a biography of the Black Prince was to bring to life his martial exploits, for Edward of Woodstock, the eldest son of Edward III, captured the imagination of fourteenth century Europe. The chronicler Jean Froissart described him…
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I was privileged to be able to help proof-read a copy of Alex Marchant’s new children’s novel about a twelve-year-old boy in the service of Richard, Duke of Gloucester and I was delighted to find that it was well-written, engaging and – wait for it! – pro-Richard! At last we have a novel for children…
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A great review of Matthew Lewis’s new book: The Survival of the Princes in the Tower
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This link is to an article about an author named Avi, whose latest children’s book, The Player King, is a novel about Lambert Simnel. Available at Amazon. I have no idea whether it is pro or anti Richard, but the fact that the blurb mentions “the deceitful Earl of Lincoln” doesn’t bode well. If Lincoln…
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The Survival of the Princes in the Tower has finally been released. There was a delay in some copies reaching readers in September, so by way of apology I blogged a little extract which can be found below. I also wrote a piece for On the Tudor Trail which was quite well received and can…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 