The War of the Roses, with two books in one. Book I is "King's Games, A Memoir of Richard III," a drama in verse. Francis, Viscount Lovell, is on the run, hiding from the vengeance of Henry VII, a fugitive from the battle of Stoke, where the last hopes for a Plantagenet king have been crushed. Taking refuge in his now-deserted family home, encrusted with the mud and blood of battle, he sits alone in a secret room, to ponder his desperate future. It is through Lovell's lonely and sometimes anguished reminiscences that Richard's pathetic descent from the most powerful subject in the kingdom to a lonely, guilt-ridden king is revealed. Based in the historical record, including recent and revealing discoveries, it presents a unique and compelling study of the last English king to die in battle. The bonus included in this collectable first edition of the play is Book II, "Observations," the complete text of the author's "King's Games, The Commentaries," an overview of the tumultuous fifteenth century in England. A comprehensive guide and reference resource containing three diverse types of timelines: an entertaining essay overview focused on the principal participants; military confrontations; and a year-by-year, month and day breakdown that encapsulates significant, influencing events from 1400 A.D. to Bosworth Field. Additionally, along with describing her research, and travails, in creating two separate versions of the play, the playwright shares insightful observations of the characters of key participants involved, as well as incidental thoughts on such diverse topics as Shakespearean hatchet jobs, understanding the reading and delivery of iambic pentameter, and the always fascinating private (if not astonishingly short-sighted) peccadilloes of royalty.
About the Author: Nance Crawford grew up in Hollywood, began working in film at age six, was twice a produced playwright by age sixteen, and columnist for a national teen magazine at twenty-one. A participant in the initial program of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab West, she belongs to ASCAP, The Dramatists Guild of America, the California Writers Club-San Fernando Valley Branch, and is a Lifetime member of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights (ALAP). She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor and audio book narrator David Stifel, where they serve as staff to their feline roommates, Suzette, Sir Thomas More, and Anya Fabiola Featherfoot. Her personal website is NanceCrawford.com.