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Richard III The Maligned King Kindle Edition

by Annette Carson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 287 ratings
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After sales of over 10,000 for the print editions, Annette Carson’s acclaimed revisionist analysis of Richard III’s reign goes digital. Carson was a founding member of ‘Looking For Richard’, the project that identified the site of his grave and arranged its excavation. She had already flagged up its probable location in this book’s first edition in 2008 – described by project leader Philippa Langley as ‘the first book I had read to make this claim.’In fact The Maligned King was the first widely read book to discuss a host of little-known aspects of Richard’s life and times, unafraid to raise controversial questions and investigate areas where conventional historians fear to tread. Carson brought to general knowledge a frank analysis of witchcraft in England; the story (and full-colour portrait) of Richard’s second queen-to-be; the argument that his nephews, the princes commonly held to have met their death in the Tower, were more likely to have been sent abroad; and THE most comprehensive in-depth examination of facts known about the Westminster bones commonly thought to be theirs. Carson continues to work on new Ricardian research, so this edition is updated with new insights readers will not find elsewhere.
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  1. Print length
    408 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    The History Press
  5. Publication date
    October 24, 2011
  6. File size
    13652 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

After studying at the Royal College of Music, Annette Carson worked for several years in the entertainment industry while indulging a leisure interest in aerobatics, on which she is a renowned expert and has contributed to Encyclopædia Britannica. In a professional writing career of 30 years she has been an editor and an award-winning copywriter. Her last book before retirement was a biography of guitarist Jeff Beck. From 1990 to 2010 she worked in South Africa where she became involved with the Karoo Animal Protection Society, to which she still devotes energy since returning to the UK. She was the lead campaigner in a case against the selective freezing of pensions for British expatriates which reached the ECHR. The Richard III controversy first came to her attention at the time of Olivier&;s
iconic film portrayal, and remains a topic of research on which she writes extensively. In 2011 she was invited by Philippa Langley to join the team searching for the king&;s lost grave which found and exhumed Richard&;s remains for honourable reburial.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07X9DX3YF
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The History Press; Updated edition (October 24, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 24, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 13652 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 408 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 287 ratings

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  1. Annette Carson

    Annette Carson

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    Having originally studied at the Royal College of Music, Annette Carson's career has included working as a TV Organiser for Equity, Programme Manager for Thames TV, and in PR and advertising as an award-winning copywriter. A freelance author with a preference for history and biography, she has sold over 60,000 non-fiction books on subjects including Richard III and aviation. Her first book, 'Flight Unlimited' has been translated into French and Italian. See also her Wikipedia page.

    Carson writes articles, gives talks, and has contributed to Encyclopædia Britannica. Her biography of guitar legend Jeff Beck has sold over 17,000 copies worldwide. In 1989 her history of aerobatics, 'Flight Fantastic', won wide acclaim and was awarded the Tissandier Diploma of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Her latest aviation book is 'Camel Pilot Supreme', the authorised biography of legendary First World War pilot Captain D.V. Armstrong - her biographical article in 'Over The Front' won their award for Best Biography 2019.

    With a lifelong interest in Richard III, she has published a series of books on this English king. 'Richard III: The Maligned King' is an analysis of his reign based on contemporary information rather than the traditional story (2008, revised 2013, new revised edition December 2023).

    This book led to Carson being invited to become a historical consultant on the Looking For Richard Project, the team led by Philippa Langley who conceived and organised the search for Richard III's lost grave. The Project, which funded the search and hired the archaeologists to perform the dig, was successful in finding the king on 25 August 2012. She then edited and published, under her personal publishing imprint, the paperback 'Finding Richard III: The Official Account' (short title), being the only authentic account of all the years of research, preparations and negotiations involved in mounting the historic search (recently dramatised in the film 'The Lost King').

    Now a Fellow of the Richard III Society, she has published three more books in her series on Richard III. A short paperback, 'Richard III: A Small Guide to the Great Debate' (2013, revised edition December 2023), aimed at explaining the controversy to the general reader. In 2015 she published her important contribution to the understanding of Richard's protectorate, 'Richard Duke of Gloucester as Lord Protector and High Constable of England'. This explains Richard's status and responsibilities in relation to these two high offices, previously poorly understood and frequently underestimated.

    Her latest addition to the Ricardian canon is a new edition, as paperback and ebook, of the report written by Domenico Mancini, an Italian eye-witness to events in England when Richard III came to the throne. Previously translated in the 1930s in an edition that leaves much to be desired to modern eyes, Carson's edition, like her other Ricardian books, has earnt high praise from the Richard III Society, and offers a more accurate translation informed by 21st-century scholarship. The title is taken from the Latin original: 'Domenico Mancini, de occupatione regni Anglie'.

    In 2021-2023 she set her own work aside to assist Dr Arthur Kincaid, whose health was failing, to ensure publication of his magisterial new edition of 'The History of King Richard the Third' written in 1619 by Sir George Buc, Master of the Revels to King James I. Retrieving and editing his files, and taking them through the design, corrections and printing processes, she enabled publication by the Society of Antiquaries with sponsorship by the Richard III Society.

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
287 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

S. Warfield
5.0 out of 5 stars A source of much information on King Richard III
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2017
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"Richard III: The Maligned King" by Annette Carson is not a biography as the author tells in the first paragraph of the preface. The book is a personal delve into the historical information that is available from Richard's time up to the writings of present day historians. The chroniclers of the times when Richard III was alive were not always accurate, but it is interesting to read their interpretations of events.

Personally, I loved the book. The author doesn't overdo the academic side of it since she says that it is a book for the ordinary reader, but once I had finished this book I knew much more about King Richard III than I did when I started. Since then I have read more and have enjoyed learning about this king very much. I have gone back and reread parts of the book several times and my intention is to start at the beginning and read the entire book over again.

The information about Richard and his times is quite interesting and I must take issue like some other reviewers have done with her very first part of the book concerning the death of Edward IV. Edward IV seemed healthy enough but suddenly became ill and Carson is convinced that he was poisoned.. He could have been, but there is no way of knowing for sure and there are many causes of death that could fit with his symptoms. Not all diseases and causes of death present in the exact same way in each patient. I feel that the author rushed to a conclusion about this situation. She also says that it couldn't have been appendicitis because his diet was good, but I checked on the University of Maryland's site, my alma mater, and they say that fresh vegetables and fruits are good for avoiding appendicitis, so the author may make a good point there.

Ms. Carson doesn't play the blame game so very much as she presents available information that could support her theories. There is a lot of myth surrounding Richard III and stories from his day that were against him and many considered him a usurper. The mystery continues about the Princes in the Tower and if and when they were killed. The finding of the two juvenile skeletons in the box does not necessarily prove anything.

Richard went on to be a good king and despite his scoliosis with an 18 degree curvature of his spine he was an excellent soldier and had no problems with carrying out his reign or his battlefield duties until his death.There is a good amount of information on the Woodvilles and the Nevilles, Anne Neville being Richard's wife. The book has a lovely group of color plates included and also family trees to help keep the order of lineages straight.

If you are interested in this period in English history and are a Ricardian at heart you should gain a lot from this book.
10 people found this helpful
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PeteEd
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, in depth review of the case for Dickon
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2012
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What a splendid review of the historical facts and fictions surrounding this much maligned King. The novels of this genre ("Daughter of Time" and "Sunne in Spelndour" for example) do admirable jobs too, but it takes a careful, detailed analysis to really get into the "meat of the matter" of this fascinating injustice. Carson lays out the historical record, including sources antagonistic to Richard's reign, and meticulously examines each theme. She aptly handles the question of Edward IV's dual marriage and the resulting illegitimacy of his offspring with Elizabeth Woodville; the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower; Richard's almost naive trust in others that led to his ultimate doom (e.g., in Stanley at Bosworth); the complicity of forces beyond his control in England, Wales, Scotland, France, and Brittany; and the most personal side of the main players.

There would be only two "cons" that come to mind. One is the very small typeface, at least to my eyes; I wish this were available on Kindle for that reason. The other is that parts can get rather pedantic at times but after all, it isn't a novel and you do want details.

Recently archeologists believe they may have found Richard III's grave and a cursory examination of the bones dispels the Tudor propaganda about his deformities (if DNA does establish these are Richard's bones!). This makes reading historical books such as this and Kendall's even more relevant today than ever.
14 people found this helpful
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Winifred MacKinnon
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good Ricardian must have book
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2013
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Purchased this book after seeing the author on youtube. In that video she did not plug this book but rather gave a very convincing "Ricardian" argument for his character and reign. I very much appreciate that this book already had been updated following the finding of Richard's body - another very pleasant surprise.

All in all a very tantalizing historical book, as author she definately comes in the pro-Richard camp in which I also dwell. I would have given this book a solid 5 stars except I had trouble with her strident argument for the poisoning of Edward IV. Now he may well have been poisoned, I wasn't there so of course I don't know BUT I found disturbing how quickly and easily she dismissed the idea that he could have died of natural causes.

How can one die of a "fever" as Edward did? Yes he was healthy, active and had recently been hunting or boating outdoors. He was reletively young and there were no known injuries or chronic illnesses. No KNOWN chronic illnesses that is. It was known he had become obese, he drank alot and slept around. Heavy alcohol consumption and being obese often leads to diabetes which seriously impairs immunity causing one to die of relatively minor illnesses. She also says something shockingly odd, I'm paraphrasing "Edward could not have died of appendicitis because his diet was too good" What? Diet has nothing to do with getting appendicitis. Its also true that no everyone who has appendicitis even has pain in the right lower abdomen - some have back pain, others no pain at all, just a fever which eventually left untreated will lead to death in most cases.

Here is a starting list/differential diagnosis, any of which he could have had and died of rather quickly: typhoid, pneumonia (not everyone with pneumonia coughs), influenza, diverticulitis, scarlet fever which can quickly cause endocarditis or renal failure being quickly lethal. Any infection can lead to sepsis which is most likely the cause of his death. He could also have succumbed to disseminated gonorrhea which starts with UTI symptoms, then spreads to the kidneys and can lead to death - quick. How about encephalitis, meningitis, heck even a tooth abscess, sinus infection or ear infection can spread to the brain and kill you rather quickly. There are ALL sorts of ways young healthy people can die quickly and this is no solid grounds on which to base an entire theory of poisoning.

Ok so...with my rant against her case for Edward IV's poisoning, the rest of the book is an excellent read. No matter whether you have Ricardian leanings or you're a Tudor propaganda zombie - this book is worth a read. Understandable but in no way insulting to the intelligence, entertaining and a great picture section in the middle. I also very much appreciate the frequent inclusions of images of the family tree, the lineage can get confusing so the visual aid is a nice touch.
22 people found this helpful
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KD
5.0 out of 5 stars New information on King Richard and the Tudors. Shows Richard in a new light.
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024
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Introduced some new research and facts regarding Tudor cover ups, and reasons why Richard didn't or couldn't have done the things he's always been accused of doing.
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Victoria
5.0 out of 5 stars good book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2024
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written before the recent research and new evidence but good and well written
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Cliente Amazon
3.0 out of 5 stars Indispensabile ma poco obiettivo.
Reviewed in Italy on December 26, 2019
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Un indagine appassionante a favore di Richard III da leggere per confrontare le diverse versioni date sul regno di questo re controverso. Ampio spazio dedicato alla scomparsa dei principi nella Torre. Un libro indispensabile per chi vuole avere un altra versione dei fatti accaduti in quel periodo.
3 stelle per il fastidioso tono sarcastico della scrittrice che lascia troppo spesso apparire le sue opinioni personali sull'argomento.
Libro in inglese per chi ha una buona padronanza della lingua.
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Mrs_Schofield
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2019
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Hump-back. Evil. Child Murderer. Richard III was none of these and this book is an excellent discussion about the real man behind the rumours. Carson does not promise hard answers about the mysteries surrounding the final years of the Plantagenets, but she does provide the reader with a thorough analysis of the sources with new ideas about what could have happened. And, if I'm honest, I believe the points she puts forward.
Carson deals with the strange circumstances of the death of Edward IV, Richard's ascent to the throne, the way people wrote about him during his lifetime, as well as the infamous Princes in the Tower. This is an expert look into types of historical sources and how one bad source can taint reality for hundreds of years. Carson even provides a breakdown of the sources from the approximate period at the end of her book and explains the benefits and downfalls of them all.
This is not a book to read if you are new to this period and the events of the early 1480's. This is for people who are familiar with the events and are looking for a new interpretation of them. Sections of the book were a little slow and dry, particularly the sections about Richard's politics.
This is an interesting book for anyone wanting to look into propaganda or how not to interpret sources. Also how the impact of a fictional portrayal of a historical figure can do so much damage.
An excellent book that needed to be written.
14 people found this helpful
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Helen Musson
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2023
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Brilliant!
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Mrs M P Frankland
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant vindication of King Richard III
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2022
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One of the best nooks I've ever read about King Richard III. It is up there with books by Paul Murray Kendal,l, John Ashdown Hill and Matt Lewis. The author successfully disposes of Michael Dicks' constant anti Richard diatribes using all sources rather than being selective as pro Tudor writers seem to do.. a good read and very informative.
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