Henry Tudor defeated and killed King Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field and started the Tudor dynasty as Henry VII (father to Henry VIII). Thomas More's biography of King Richard was always going to be a malicious destructive critique of Richard's rise to power and it does not disappoint. His description of Richard has set the trend for many subsequent histories; according to More Richard was:

Little of stature, ill featured of limb, crook-backed, his left shoulder much higher than his right... he was malicious, wrathful, envious and ever forward... he was close and secret, deep dissimuler, lowly of countenance, arrogant of heart, outwardly companionable when inwardly hated, not letting to kiss when he meant to kill, ambitious disposition and cruel, slew with his own hands, he spared no man's death whose life withstood his purpose.

As a History More's book stands up fairly well, it is well written and aims to tell a tale of a Tyranny that comes to a just end. He has an eye for detail which is compelling and although he tends to put speeches into the mouths of some of his protagonists they do not seem too wide of the mark. More makes much of Richard breaking sanctuary in church to take the two young princes away from the Queen and there is a long digression on issues surrounding those who seek sanctuary, which must have been a hot topic at the time. There is a marvellous episode when Richard comes into a room which is full of conspirators and he comments admiringly on some strawberries grown by Lord Hastings and asks him for a mess of them, Richard leaves the room apparently satisfied but returns within the hour grim of face and with armed guards, they seize Hastings who is summarily executed. Beforehand there is the story of Hastings horse stumbling three times on his journey to the Tower and Lord Stanley dreaming about him, all portentous omens that signified his execution.

More claims that Richard ordered the smothering of the Princes in the tower and goes into detail of how it took place. He says that Richard never has peace of mind after the event, but the reader is left wondering how much irony there is attached to this story. There is no doubt that the History was written from a Tudor point of view, but it was probably not just propaganda. It was not published during More's lifetime and is not wildly out of synch with other contemporary histories of the time. Thomas More's English does take a little work, but with some modernisation of the letters the version that I read on the internet was quite readable and well worth the effort. ( )

Bound with the other work by More from 1641