When Edward IV died in 1483, his successor was his son Edward V, a boy of 13. But Edward IV’s brother, the Duke of Gloucester wanted the throne for himself. He intercepted the young king on the way to London and placed him in the Tower — ostensibly to protect him. A short time later, Edward V’s younger brother joined him in the Tower. Gloucester surrounded himself with an army, then forced Parliament to declare the young brothers illegitimate. He had himself crowned as Richard III. The brothers disappeared. The mystery of what happened to the young princes has generated all sorts of theories in the 520 years since their disappearance. Several men stepped forward to claim they were the younger brother who escaped and wanted to take his rightful place as king. Most people at the time thought Richard III had them killed. Since then, however, he’s gained a number of fans (entire societies dedicated to repairing his reputation, in fact) who say he was much too pious to have done such a horrible deed. Alison Weir tells the entire story, from the final years of Edward IV’s reign through the early years of Henry VII’s. (Richard III was killed by Henry VII’s forces at the Battle of Bosworth — that’s the scene in Shakespeare’s play when Richard says, “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”) The book begins rather dryly with a chapter on the contemporary sources that comment on the fate of the princes. Weir then launches into her history. She does a good job of making it easy to keep track of who is who — usually tricky in English history where the nobility change names every time they gain a new title. But if you haven’t read a fair amount of English history, you might be diving in a bit deep with this book. Weir argues fairly convincingly that Richard III was responsible for the murder, although her arguments frequently devolve into explanations of what the strategy of the participants MUST have been, always dangerous ground. As somebody wise once said, “The past is a different planet.” Still, it seems that Richard III had the motive, the opportunity and a pattern of behavior that would indicate he should be the prime suspect. Weir has written a book on the historical events that immediately precede this book — Wars of the Roses. I wish I had read that book first. I intend to read it in the not-too-distant future.