Excellent

Told in alternate chapters by the two writers, Philippa Langley tells of her search and the legal hoops she had the jump through, before and after the excavation of a Leicester car park results in the finding of the remains of Richard III.
Michael Jones deals with the Historical events leading up to the death of a king, and how the remains came to be where they were eventually and somewhat miraculously found. Always engaging and interesting and at times this reads like fiction.
Rights a number of wrongs of this long misunderstood character but still leaves some unanswered questions which may never be answered.
Completely and utterly recommended. ( )

In September 2012 I heard that the burial ground of King Richard III had finally been located and unearthed in Grey Friar's Priory, Leicester, England. This Spring I heard the movie about it was being released. I wanted to know more, so I listened to the audio version of The King's Grave by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones.

For being rather documentary in its purpose, the flow carries forward pretty well with interspersing of historical background amongst the description of the way the remains were found. I liked that the story moved back and forth in time.

The author also goes pretty far to convince the reader/listener that that image of King Richard III as a tyrant is completely false. I have an open mind about that, but I am not convinced that he did not kill his nephews whom he placed in the Tower of London for their protection, as their disappearance has never been fully solved. ( )

This is definitely not a dry history book, and for those who know next to nothing about Richard III they will receive an almost personal history lesson about this Monarch as they progress through the book. This is an extraordinarily user friendly book.

The chapters in the book alternate between the story of searching for, and eventually finding the grave of Richard III and his factual history, and the one everyone is familiar with that was painted by Shakespeare and the victor of Bosworth Field. However, in reading this book it soon becomes apparent that this is more than a simple recounting of an archaeological dig; it is very personal to the Author and that comes through in their writing. The book is loaded with an impressive amount of information, both about the search itself and, as I’ve already noted, the history of this King, but it s the delivery of this information that really impressed me. There is not a point in this book where the delivery becomes stale and dusty, the Authors managed to make every part of it enjoyable to the reader.

The sections of the book that cover the identification of the remains, and the scientific techniques used are equally as interesting as the descriptive scenes of the battle that took the Kings life. They covered disputes and grievances between the House of York and the House of Tudor with great tact and never once came out in favour of one House or the other. This book will also serve to dispel some of the images people have that Richard III was just an all-round evil man; it informs the reader of all the good he did for the country and shows him in the context of the world he lived in. Through the Authors writing skills the reader is introduced to a man of deep convictions and courage whilst at the same time showing he was definitely not a saint.

The great strength of this book is that it captivates like a well-written historical novel while at the same time informing and educating the reader. This strength kept me up late into the night to finish this book and once again stoke the flames of my love of history. Richard III, the last King of England to come from the House of York and the last Plantagenet King found his champions in these hard working people, and will finally have the burial a Monarch deserves, particularly one of such fame.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of all forms of history, plus those who want to learn a little more about this period of time in England.


Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2014/01/28/review-the-kings-grave-the-discovery-of-ri...





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As a life long supporter of Richard III, I was fascinated with the story of the discovery of his burial place. This book tells how it all came about and how it was determined that these were actually the remains or Richard. It is both a detective story detailing the discovery and a history of Richard's life. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. ( )

Fascinating to hear the actual story of the dig, and how often it almost came to nothing. Philippa doesn't mention "dowsing him" as I was once told by someone, but she does admit to a very funny feeling as she stood in a certain place in the car park, long before Richard was discovered in that very spot...