A glorious novel of the controversial Richard III—-a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and betrayed in death by history In this beautifully rendered modern classic, Sharon Kay Penman redeems Richard III—-vilified as the bitter, twisted, scheming hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower—-from his maligned place in history with a dazzling combination of research and storytelling. Born into the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century England, in the midst of what history has called The War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning. This magnificent retelling of his life is filled with all of the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and lore of the fifteenth century, the rigors of court politics, and the passions and prejudices of royalty.