The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case by Philippa Langley is an exploration into the disappearance of the two boys and a search for evidence regarding their fates. Philippa went into this project not knowing what might be found and knowing that it could easily support the traditional view of the murder of the two boys.
New evidence is uncovered with the help of several hundred volunteers and the assistance of various forensic and criminal investigators.
She presents a fact-based analysis of her team’s work, a simple, straightforward presentation starting with an excellent overview of the events of the 1483 succession crisis, She then gives the contemporary accounts of the fate of the princes followed by what her team has discovered and possible scenarios for the prince's survival. The information is presented in an analytical and unemotional way. There is so much information that the book is a slow read if you want to understand all the information.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this period of history. She has built up a lot of circumstantial evidence that points very strongly to the princes' survival. This is the first report on her project, encompassing the first five years of her work. The project is continuing and there will be more information coming.
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Top reviews from other countries
Alex Marchant
Did he or didn't he? This excellent book suggests not!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2024
Alex Marchant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2024
For centuries English law has insisted on the principle that a person should be deemed innocent until proved guilty, but strangely it’s taken more than 500 years for this to apply properly to Richard III. A number of mock trials in recent decades have found him “not guilty” of the worst charges levelled at him by Tudor chroniclers and later historians – the murders of his two young nephews, usually known as “the Princes in the Tower” – but still many historians stick to the line that he must have done it. But surely no more, following this landmark publication.
“The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case” presents the interim findings of the Missing Princes Project – eight years (so far) of reconsidering every piece of “evidence” known that could be used for the prosecution of the crime or for the defence – plus investigation of as many archives as possible containing documents from the relevant time period. Established by Philippa Langley, who was the driving force in the quest to find King Richard's grave in Leicester, the multilingual Project team followed every relevant line of investigation that they could, and new discoveries from those archives, on the continent in particular, include four remarkable documents new to English-language researchers.
These documents are remarkable as they appear strongly to support the possibility that the two boys survived after Richard’s death at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 – contrary to the “official” Tudor story – and that they returned as the improbably named pretenders, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. At the very least, the documents, together with mounting other evidence of the boys’ survival, undermine the prosecution “case” for their murder by King Richard.
Philippa Langley’s clear, dispassionate dissection and discussion of both old and new evidence – comprehensively referenced throughout – presents both cases, for and against, at length, beginning with the evidence for the prosecution. This is shown to be primarily rumour and hearsay, mostly recorded years or decades after the events in question, and often by individuals who had their own particular agendas, usually political. The latter charge could be levelled at much of the evidence for the “defence” too – supporters of both pretenders may well have had an interest in stirring trouble for the new king of England, Henry Tudor, especially Margaret of Burgundy, the boys’ aunt and stalwart supporter of the rival House of York. Yet when seemingly insignificant records such as receipts and household accounts – including those of Henry Tudor himself, records not conceivably aimed at propaganda or persuasion – name the boys as Edward son of Edward IV or Richard, Duke of York, and when the huge sums of money spent by various European rulers on backing their claims are taken into account, it does seem that such support may have had a firmer foundation than simply a desire to cause problems for a king with a sometimes shaky hold on his crown.
For me the weight of evidence has now shifted firmly to the defence. It may not yet be “beyond reasonable doubt” that the boys survived King Richard’s reign, although I personally think the evidence taken all together and laid out clearly in this book is very compelling. Does the book actually do what it says in its bold subtitle and solve “history’s greatest cold case”? Not 100 per cent perhaps. But with more investigations by the Project underway and more revelations likely, it may well not be too long before this 500-year-old mystery is finally solved. And it will all be due to the incredible efforts of Ms Langley and her team, and the other open-minded historians on whose work they’ve built over many years.
If you enjoyed and were intrigued by the recent Channel 4/PBS documentary based on the findings, do take a look at this book. There’s so much more to explain why the findings are so significant, and so much more background to the controversial story outlined. It’s a sizable volume, but don’t let that put you off. The prose is straightforward and very readable, whether or not you know a great deal already about King Richard and the enduring mystery of what happened to his nephews.
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Michael
Worth a read if you have an open mind.
Reviewed in Australia on January 9, 2024Kathleen Matthews
Richard III vindicated.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2024J. Speakman
Exciting new discoveries but unconvinced
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2024