Richard III and the Murder in the Tower

Informative and interesting!!

Peter Hancock goes outside the normal “murder” in the tower, to look at one that we know for sure did happen. The beheading of Lord Hastings during the council meeting in June 1483 was one that took everyone by surprise. He and Richard were friends. They had shared exile and more together. So when Richard ordered that his head be cut off with cries of treason, the reasons seemed murky and unclear.

Through this book, Hancock goes through the facts, the times leading up to the fatal council meeting, and what events led the protector to proclaim treason against a friend. The precontract between Edward IV and Eleanor Butler is examined, along with many other pieces of evidence.

While no one can say for sure whether the princes in the tower were killed or if they were spirited away to a safer location, whether Richard III or someone else could have had a hand in their demise, and the Woodville clans trying to keep a hold on power following the death of Edward IV - evidence is laid out as to the THREE nephews that Richard III had in the tower, but the main concern is the death of Lord Hastings.
Follow the trail of evidence and come to your own conclusions as to the actions on that fatal day. Peter Hancock does a very good job of keeping his personal bias out of the text, unless otherwise stated, but he also delves deeper into some of the actions of the key people, who have been overlooked since Shakespeare and Thomas More did so much to disparage Richard III over the course of the Tudors. We move beyond the shadows that have been cast and look at the man himself, one who was loyal to his brother throughout his entire reign, without any hint of a darker personage underneath.
Read and decide for yourself! I for one LOVED this read. It is one of the better books written on Richard III, and one that I feel deals more fairly with him and some of those who surrounded him.