The War of the Roses, the Battle of Bosworth, and the Princes in the Tower; the century and a half covered by Shakespeare's history plays - from the recently authenticated Edward III and Richard III -is so full of incident that dramatic licence might seem unnecessary. But as this survey of the period shows, Shakespeare's dramas - which have influenced popular history for centuries - are prone to depart from the facts. By illuminating the enthralling political, military and dynastic events which supplied the raw material for the greatest dramatist in the English language, and the artistic, political and practical considerations that determined his approach to that material, John Julius Norwich does a great service both to lovers of traditional narrative history, and to all those interested in Shakespeare and his work.