The definitive extended biography of not only Richard II but also his fourteenth-century court

Richard II is one of England’s most notorious kings. Just a child when he came to the throne, he was thrust into instability. Even so, Richard was not a warrior king, but someone who championed art, literature and frivolity. He surrounded himself with a glittering court in which women played an unusually prominent role. He honoured them as Ladies of the Garter, while his favoured courtiers were derided as ‘knights of Venus’, mocked for having ‘more prowess in the bedroom than on the field of battle’.

Beneath this carefree surface, however, dangerous tensions simmered. As resentment deepened, rivalries erupted into exile, murder and rebellion, pushing England to the brink of civil war. But Richard’s reign was also a golden age for culture and the arts, and reshaped the royal court in ways that would echo for generations, helping to lay the foundations for the conflicts that culminated in the Wars of the Roses.

Acclaimed historian Gemma Hollman brings Richard’s fascinating world to life, offering a definitive look at the origins of one of the most significant eras of English history.

‘A deeply researched, richly detailed and endlessly fascinating account of ... one of England’s most intriguing monarchs. Highly recommended!’ - KATHRYN WARNER, author of Richard II: A True King’s Fall