RICHARD III: ENGLAND’S BLACK LEGEND

Book ID/图书代码： 00530014B75927

English Summary/英文概要： Although Richard reigned for only just over two years, he is one of England’s best known kings. There is even a ’Richard III Society’. A passionate debate rages perenially as to whether he really was the arch-villain of Sir Thomas More and Shakespeare or in fact the victim of Tudor slander - a revisionist view eloquently expressed by Horace Walpole and by Josephine Tey in her charming novel, The Daughter of Time.

Desmond Seward argues powerfully that More and Shakespeare were right. Stressing Richard’s singularity - the sole Northcountryman (by adoption) to reign over England, the only king since 1066 to be killed in battle -he uses the latest research to paint a compelling portrait of a ruthless opportunist, who during a double coup d’etat stopped at nothing to seize the throne, murdering others besides the Princes in the Tower. As a monarch, his reign was a nightmare, not least for himself.

Seward emphasises that not More was not just the best legal brain of his day and a byeword for integrity, but that his damning life of Richard is confined by witnesses during the king’s reign - notably Dominic Mkncini and Philippe de Commynes, and only two years after his death by the equally veil informed continuator of the Croyland Chronicle. Seward’s considered opinion is that Richard III was an English version of the classic Renaissance tyrant - ’England’s black legend’.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 尽管英王理查三世，执政只有短短两年，但他是英国最著名的君王之一。即使是 ’ 理查德三世会’也言辞激烈地在争辩这位在位很短的英国君主，是否真如托马斯•莫尔爵士和莎士比亚笔下的，那个拱背的恶棍，亦或是，都铎王朝现实下的牺牲品-英国作家霍勒斯•沃波尔用客观的推论，以及小说家约瑟芬•铁伊在她迷人缜密的推理小说《时间的女儿》中，进行了完美的辩证。 德斯蒙德•西沃德在本书中更为有力地证明了莎翁所描述的这一点。强调了理查的本性，作为1066年战役后，北英格兰唯一的统治者，作者通过最近的研究，绘制出一个绝对的机会主义者的画像，在双重政变时期，夺取王位，谋杀亲侄，作为一名君主，他的统治宛如是一场噩梦。

Awards/获奖情况："...perhaps the best and certainly the most readable of recent biographies." John Julius Norwich

"...a sensible reliable account." Al Rowse, The Times

"Seward has made a valuable addition to the file, a biography of strong feeling and firmly held conviction arrived at after long thought; it is as fair as a book can be when it is written about one whom the author detests. It is most readable." George Malcolm Thomson

"...a well written and colourful account of an intriguing period in English history." New York Times Book Review

"A colorful, authoritative biography that offers a definitive picture of both the age and the man." BookReporter

"...a colorful, authoritative biography that offers a definitive picture of both the age and the man." Book Reporter

About the Author/作者介绍： Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at Ampleforth and St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. He is the author of many books including The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders, The Hundred Years War, The Wars of the Roses, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry V as Warlord, Josephus, Masada and the Fall of Judaea (da Capo, US, April 2009), Wings over the Desert: in action with an RFC pilot in Palestine 1916-18 (Haynes Military, July 2009) and Old Puglia: A Portrait of South Eastern Italy (Haus August 2009). Forthcoming is The Last White Rose: the Spectre at the Tudor Court 1485-1547

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Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：UK: Country Life US: Pegasus

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