Product Description

This is the first full-length study of the last years of Richard II's reign and the circumstances of his overthrow by Henry of Bolingbroke in 1399. It reviews Richard's early experiences, from his accession, aged only ten, through the troubled politics of the 1380s, placing new emphasis on his own insecurities and the vexed issue of the succession. It offers a detailed examination of Richard's attempts to reassert his royal authority in the 1390s, including his so-called 'tyranny' from 1397 to 1399, and sets them in the context of his personal anxieties and broader ambitions. It shows Richard, all too conscious of his mortality and lack of issue, and all too aware of the vicissitudes of European politics - lashing out at all who had opposed him ten years earlier and crashing through the constraints imposed on his regality in order to prepare himself for some higher destiny in Christendom. This important new book - the fruit of over ten years research - deserves a place on the bookshelves of every historian and student of English history. Covering an episode which has stirred the imagination since Shakespeare first put Richard II on the stage, it will be enjoyed by anyone fascinated by the personalities and the high political drama of the Middle Ages.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77905 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

About the Author
Michael Bennett is Professor of History at the University of Tasmania, Australia. He is the author of Community, Class and Careerism. Cheshire and Lancashire Society in the Age of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight', The Battle of Bosworth and Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke. He hit the front page of The Times in 1997 with his discovery, during the research for this book, of a formerly unknown charter in which Richard's grandfather, Edward III, sought to bar women from the royal succession.

Customer Reviews

Essential reading.
For anyone interested in the reign of this most interesting of kings, then this book will define studies in this area for some years to come. Michael Bennett has an assured style that leads us through the complexities of the political situation of the day. It is attractively illustrated and is accessable for the specialist historian or the generally interested reader. Referencing is clear and the book moves us through the changing fortunes of Richard as he approaches the key year of his downfall. I am happy to recommend this book, I will continue to 'dip into' it in the future.

A book for studies
I think this book is written very well but is very much for the academically minded. I'm a great fan of Ian Mortimer and Antonia Fraser due to their ability to bring the historical facts as well as the characters involved to life. This book belongs more in a college classroom than on my coffee table. I found this book fairly hard work but then maybe I'm just not that intelligent :-)