A very interesting set of essays relating to the discovery and disinterment of the body of Richard III, (b. 1452 r. 1483 - 85), the subject of Shakespeare's play, and the last Yorkist Plantagenet. As there was a civil war which proceeded off and on for 33 years between contending noble groups, a lot of controversy has arisen over the years, and while the actual body has been a treasury of useful information for archaeologists, a the big question of whether or not Richard killed his own nephews to further his own political agenda continues to this day. A body can only tell so much.
But the body has a lot to say about how information can be revealed by actual remains that can be tied to a well recorded individual. Several forensic archaeological methods can now be accurately assessed as to their value. The book also has an informative essay about how this particular grave site, not deliberately concealed, came to be lost to the knowledge of the community, only to be revealed by an unlikely set of circumstances. This is a useful anthology, and most medieval historians will find at least parts of it very worthwhile. ( )