The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA ─ The Book That Inspired the Dig

A uniquely detailed exploration of Richard's last 150 days details these events from the standpoint of Richard himself and his contemporaries. By deliberately avoiding the hindsight knowledge that he will lose the Battle of Bosworth Field, this book presents a new Richard—no passive victim, awaiting defeat and death, but a king actively pursuing his own policies and agenda. It also reexamines the aftermath of Bosworth—the treatment of Richard's body, his burial, and the construction of his tomb. Based on newly discovered evidence and wider insights, it explores the motives underlying these events. And there is the fascinating story of why and how Richard III's DNA was rediscovered, alive and well, and living in Canada. Now, with the discovery of a skeleton at Greyfriars Priory in Leicester, England, John Ashdown-Hill details how his book inspired the dig and completes this fascinating story. Using the knowledge of Richard III’s living relative, he is also able to analyze the DNA results of the skeleton and, perhaps finally, put the absorbing mystery of the lost king to rest.

John Ashdown-Hill is a historian and a member of the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Genealogists, the Richard III Society, and the Centre Europeen d’Etudes Bourguignonnes. He is the author of Eleanor the Secret Queen and Richard III’s 'Beloved Cousyn.'