The Woodman: A Romance of the Times of Richard III

by G. P. R. James

First published 1849

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3.7(3)

Set in England during the reign of Richard III, The Woodman combines romance and adventure with the final phase of the Wars of the Roses. James places fictional households and loyalties in a country where the legitimacy of the crown remains disputed and where noble allegiance can change with military fortune. The perspective moves beyond the royal court to people whose security depends on the decisions of magnates and commanders above them.

Richard’s reign lasted only from 1483 to 1485 and ended with his defeat and death at Bosworth. James uses that compressed political crisis to create a sense that every alliance is temporary. Questions of inheritance, concealed identity and personal loyalty acquire national significance because rival dynastic claims are still being decided by force. The woodland and provincial settings also provide a counterpoint to the court politics that dominate conventional accounts of Richard III.