Reading List

For Casual Readers/Newcomers to the Fifteenth Century

Introductions to the Wars of the Roses

• Nathen Amin, The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown (2017)
• Anne Crawford, The Yorkists. The History of a Dynasty (2007)
• Sarah Gristwood, Blood Sisters. The Women behind the Wars of the Roses (2013)
• D. Grummitt, A Short History of the Wars of the Roses (2025)
• Lauren Johnson, Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)

Biographies of Richard III

• John Ashdown-Hill, The Last Days of Richard III and the fate of his DNA (2013)
• David Baldwin, Richard III (2015)
• Rosemary Horrox, Richard III, a failed king? (2020) a rigorous evaluation by a Cambridge Fellow
• David Horspool, Richard III. A Ruler and his Reputation (2015) – a non-Ricardian perspective
• Paul Murray Kendall, Richard III (1955) – classic defence of Richard III
• Matthew Lewis, Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me (2018) – most recent pro-Richard biography
• Chris Skidmore, Richard III: Brother, Protector, King (2017) – a non-Ricardian view

Defences of Richard III

• Annette Carson, Richard III. Maligned King (2008, revised 2013) Examines original evidence from his reign
• V. B. Lamb, The Betrayal of Richard III: an introduction to the controversy, ed. P. W. Hammond (2015) – new edition of classic (1959) re-examination of the development of the legends
• Jeremy Potter, Good King Richard: an account of Richard III and his reputation 1483-1983 (1983, with new intro 2014) – examines changing attitudes in both popular and academic histories
• Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, (1951) classic detective novel, remains a very accessible introduction

Other Biographies

• John Ashdown-Hill, The Secret Queen, Eleanor Talbot: the Woman who put Richard III on the Throne (2009)
• David Baldwin, Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower (2002)
• Sean Cunningham Henry VII: Treason and Trust  (2026) 
• Peter Hammond, The Children of Richard III (2017)
• Michael Hicks, Anne Neville: Queen to Richard III (2006)
• Matthew Lewis, Richard Duke of York: King by Right (2017)
• A. J. Pollard, Edward IV: the Summer King (2016)
• James Ross, Henry VI: a Good, Simple and Innocent Man (2016)
• Christine Weightman, Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy 1446-1503 (1989)

The Princes in the Tower

• Philippa Langley The Princes in the Tower: How History’s Greatest Cold Case Was Solved (2025). A summary  of the discoveries of The Missing Princes Project over its ten year investigation of archives around the world concluding that the princes survived beyond 1485.
• Matthew Lewis, The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth (2017)
• A. J. Pollard, Richard III and the Princes in the Tower (1991) – concludes princes were killed with Richard’s knowledge

The World of the Wars of the Roses

• Christina Hardyment, Malory: The Life and Times of King Arthur’s Chronicler (2006)
• Rosemary Horrox ed., Fifteenth Century Attitudes: Perceptions of Society in Late Medieval England (2008)
• Ian Mortimer, A Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England (2009) – set in 14th century but much of everyday life had not significantly changed
• Toni Mount, How to Survive in Medieval England (2021)

Looking for Richard III

• A. J. Carson ed. Finding Richard III. The Official Account of Research by the Retrieval and Reburial Project (2014)
• Philippa Langley and Mike Jones, The King’s Grave: the Search for Richard III (2013)
• Mathew Morris and Richard Buckley, Richard III: The King Under the Carpark (2013)
• Mike Pitts, Digging for Richard III: How Archaeology Found the King  (2015)

For Students or those who want further reading

Richard III

• Peter Hammond, Richard III and the Bosworth Campaign (2010) an up to date assessment of one of the most debated aspects of Richard’s life
• Michael Hicks, Richard III: The Self Made King (2019) deeply researched and very comprehensive, compellingly written, occasionally controversial
• Rosemary Horrox, Richard III: A Study in Service (1991) in depth study of his affinity/administration etc
• Charles Ross, Richard III (1981) the biography still found on all university reading lists, not particularly pro-Richard

Other Principal Personalities

• Ralph Griffiths, The Reign of King Henry VI (1981)
• Michael Hicks, False, Fleeting, Perjur’d Clarence (1980)
• Hannes Kleineke, Edward IV (2025) – combines academic rigour with very readable style
• J. L. Laynesmith, Cecily Duchess of York (2017)
• Helen Maurer, Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England (2003)
• Lynda J. Pidgeon, Brought up of Nought: a History of the Woodville Family (2019)
• Charles Ross, Edward IV (1974) – more accessible than Scofield, classic student text
• Harry Schnitker, Margaret of York (2016)
• Cora L. Scofield, The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth 2 vols. (1923) –  the most deeply researched biography of Edward IV, still the starting point for all other biographers

The Wars of the Roses

• Helen Castor, Blood and Roses (2004) – from the perspective of the Paston family
• David Grummitt, The Wars of the Roses: War and Martial Culture in England, 1455–1487 (2025)
• Michael Hicks, The Wars of the Roses (2010)
• Hannes Kleineke and Christian Steer eds., The Yorkist Age (2013)
• Thomas Penn, The Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England (2012)
• A.J. Pollard, Warwick the Kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame during the War of the Roses (2007) 
• A. J. Pollard, The Wars of the Roses (2013)
• John Watts, The Wars of the Roses: A Medieval Civil War  (2025)
• Ann Wroe, Perkin: A Story of Deception (2004)

Getting Closer to the Sources

• Sean Cunningham, Richard III. A Royal Engima (2003)
• Keith Dockray, Edward IV: a Source Book (1999)
• Keith Dockray, William Shakespeare, the Wars of the Roses and the Historians  (2002)
• Keith Dockray and Peter Hammond, Richard III: From Contemporary Chronicles, Letters and Records (new edition, 2015)
• Margaret L. Kekewich et al. The Politics of Fifteenth Century England: John Vale’s Book (1995)
• Anne F. Sutton and Peter Hammond, The Coronation of Richard III: the extant documents (1983)
• Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Richard III’s Books (1997)
• Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, The Hours of Richard III (1996)

Online Sources

The Richard III Society website has a section of online sources here, and you can find more on this website here. The March 2026 issue of the Ricardian Bulletin has the top 100 ‘Greatest Ricardian Reads of all Time’. This is available to members of the Richard III Society only.