John D GrantI have been interested in Richard III and the War of the Roses since I was a boy. It all started when I received the illustrated Ladybird book on Warwick the Kingmaker at the age of nine. I remember being disappointed when this period of history was ot covered at school. I wrote an eight-page essay on the War of Roses when I was fourteen, even though it had never been set as a task by the teacher. He read it and was impressed but could not give it any credit because it was not part of the curriculum. My next inspiration came when I read the book The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman. It represented a favourable account of Richard's life. I felt that it really brought to life the main characters and the battles. Later in life, I started to do talks on the period for various clubs who had an interest in medieval history. It was satisfying to see how my talks changed people's perception of Richard, which inspired me to write this book. Read More Read Less