The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir

The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir

1espite five centuries of investigation by historians, the sinister deaths of the boy king Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, remain one of the most fascinating murder mysteries in English history. Did Richard I really kill the Princes in the Tower, as is commonly believed, or was the murderer someone else entirely?

In this utterly absorbing and meticulously researched book, English writer Alison Weir, an authority on the history of the British royal family, at last provides a conclusive solution to this age-old puzzle. Carefully examining every shred of contemporary evidence as well as the dozens of modern accounts, Weir reconstructs the entire chain of events leading to the double murder.

In The Princes in the Tower we are witnesses to the tumultuous reign of Edward IV, the princes' powerful, handsome, promiscuous father. We see the unfolding rivalry between the Wydvilles, the common family of Edward's shrewd queen, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, his ambitious brother. Finally we are swept up in the vortex of intrigue that followed Edward's death - the naming of his twelve-year-old son Edward as heir; Richard's swift arrival in London and his lightning strike for power; the imprisonment of the princes in the Tower of London; and the hushed-up murders that secured Richard's claim to the throne as Richard I.

Weir considers in turn each of the prime suspects in the murder: the grasping, conspiratorial Duke of Buckingham; the shadowy Sir James Tyrell, Richard's trusted retainer; the possibility that the boys may have died of natural causes; and of course, Richard I himself, a complex man of charm and intelligence twisted by a ruthless ambition for power.

More than an historical murder mystery, The Princes in the Tower is a richly detailed tapestry of English court life in the late fifteenth century - the bitter rivalries that exploded in the Wars of the Roses; the splendor and corruption of the royal family; the violence and treachery that coexisted with exquisite beauty and refinement. At the very center of that tapestry is the tragic image of two pale, innocent, bewildered boys, an image that has haunted our minds for half a millennium. Powerfully written, persuasively argued, and totally mesmerizing to read, The Princes in the Tower is at once a masterpiece of historical research and a riveting story of conspiracy, murder, and deception.

Deborah Weir (Greenwich, CT) is president of Greenwich Consulting, a firm that provides money management and asset allocation services to institutional investors and wealthy individuals. Clients include senior portfolio managers at major financial institutions such as Chase Bank, Sumitomo Bank, and FleetBoston. Prior to forming Greenwich Advisors, Ms. Weir managed an approximately $500 million fixed income portfolio for Scudder Investments, investing in international securities and derivatives, as well as traditional bonds. By virtue of her experience in trading bonds, Ms. Weir has developed a stock market trading system which utilizes information from the fixed income market to determine market tops and bottoms; where we are in the economic cycle; and investor psychology. Her timing system has produced an overall return of 74% higher than what investor would achieve by simply holding onto stocks since 1960. Ms. Weir has written articles for Active Trader, Futures Magazine, and Journal of Cash Management. She is a Certified Financial Analyst and is the first woman president of the Stamford Society of Investment Analysts. She has appeared on local Connecticut television and radio as a financial expert.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780345391780
ISBN 10	0345391780
Title	The Princes in the Tower
Author	Alison Weir
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	1995-07-10
Number of pages	336
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable