The Princes in the Tower

Solving History's Greatest Cold Case

By: Philippa Langley

Narrated by: Philippa Langley

Philippa Langley took the world by storm when, against all the odds and a seven-year investigation, she discovered the grave of King Richard III (1452-1485) in a Leicester car park. A king finally laid to rest, the rediscovery and reburial of Richard III was watched by an estimated global audience of over 366 million. Now, Langley reveals the findings of a remarkable new research initiative: ‘The Missing Princes Project'. In the summer of 1483, Edward V (aged 12) and his brother Richard Duke of York (aged 9), disappeared from the Tower of London. For over 500 years, history has judged that they were murdered on the orders of their uncle Richard III. Following years of intensive research in UK, American and European archives, astonishing new archival discoveries have been uncovered that change what we know about the fate of the Princes in the Tower. Established by Langley in 2016, ‘The Missing Princes Project' employed the methods of a cold-case police enquiry. Using investigative methodology, it aimed to place this most enduring of mysteries under a forensic microscope for the first time. In The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case, Langley records the painstaking investigative work and research of the project. By questioning received wisdom, she and her team shed light upon one of history's greatest miscarriages of justice, revealing a phenomenal untold story.

©2023 Philippa Langley (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd

Not as open minded as she pretends

This is a sequel to the very successful finding and excavation of the skeleton of Richard III, in which the author was deeply involved. This book examines the best-known crime in which Richard III may have been involved: the imprisonment and disappearance of the young boys, sons of Edward IV, who probably had better credentials than Richard III to the throne. The stylistic theme of the current book is to describe a supposedly scientific/historical examination of the possible truths of what may have happened to the princes. But just pretending to be a scholar doesn't necessarily reveal the facts. The problem with the supposedly scholarly assessment is that the outcome drives the analysis. It is clear from the first that the author will never seriously consider the possibility that the princes died in the Tower, but will consider as plausible a whole raft of weakly supported alternatives, most of which have been debunked in previous centuries. That plus her droning reading style make for a boring book where lively discussion could still have been entertaining.

Interesting historical dectectvibe inquiry

How does the illegitimate Cecily Neville, daughter of Joan Beaufort, give legitimacy to her children? Didn’t know an illegitimate granddaughter of John of Guant can pass this on- very interesting.

Narrator

Please. Many authors read their books with excellent voice. Not here. Ms. Langley is not a good choice to read such an emotional story. She lacks the dramatic touch. Great book however.

Read, don’t listen

This is utterly fascinating and the author’s research and scholarship are commendable, finally putting paid to Tudor propaganda and whitewashing. But the author chose to read her own work, and while she’s not by any stretch awful, it would so much have benefitted from a professional narrator. She is almost completely without inflection, which was a surprise since I bought the book after hearing her interviewed on the History This Week podcast, and she was great. If it’s either listen or pass this up, then by all means listen but imo the read is better. I’ve bought both.

Painfully edited audiobook

This audiobook was sloppily put together. There are multiple chapters that randomly have sentences repeat, or badly spliced sentences from multiple takes.