I picked this up yesterday and started reading it last night. I've got to stop myself from skipping around in it to find the fictional take on incidents that interested me from history and just read it through, but so far it's quite absorbing.

The title, incidentally, refers to Edward IV, the "Sun of York," which is interesting in a novel about the life of Richard. But it makes sense, given that as far as I can tell the author is arguing that Richard was a good man but not a great one. For that value of "great" that might be painful and even dangerous to try to live with. Her portrait of Richard is of a man pretty much created by God or nature to be someone's utterly reliable strong right hand, and when he's let down by or otherwise loses his leader, he's not as able to cope. I'm putting this badly--he's an able general, for instance, but even in the early parts I'm reading now he's not at all suited to be a king, and he seems to know it.

As my brother remarked of Gimme Shelter, this shit is not going to end well. And there's the bad thing about reading historical fiction based on real people. No matter how well-prepared you are for betrayal and death and stuff, it's still hard to read about.

I've also been reading my history of the wives of Henry VIII today, by Antonia Fraser. Incidentally, when Henry was at his most deeply paranoid, he executed George's of Clarence's nearly-seventy-year-old daughter, among other women, not to mention children. I can only assume this activity is not considered as shocking as the deaths of "the little princes" because we already consider Henry a monster.

Fraser refers to Margaret as the daughter of "the murdered Duke of Clarence." Yes, poor innocent George, whose only fault was rising in armed insurrection against his brother the King. Twice.

Imagine how the Tudors would have dealt with the like of that.

And on that note, I'm out of time...