Battle of Bosworth Field lead character, has been built up in the battles of Shakespeare's earlier play, "Henry VI, Part 3", as a "formidable swordsman and a courageous military leader"—in contrast to the dastardly means by which he becomes king in "Richard III". Although the Battle of Bosworth has only five sentences to direct it, three scenes and more than four hundred lines precede the action, developing the background and motivations for the characters in anticipation of the battle. Shakespeare's account of the battle was mostly based on chroniclers Edward Hall's and Raphael Holinshed's dramatic versions of history, which were sourced from Vergil's chronicle.
Richard III (biography) been written.", whereas "Saturday Review"s Geoffrey Bruun opined: "A definitive biography of Richard III. It is a noteworthy performance." The "Times Literary Supplement" wrote: "Brilliantly successful... combines sound scholarship with literary distinction... his descriptions... are always stimulating and sometimes beautiful."" Historical writers Desmond Seward and Alison Weir, both hostile to Richard, disagree; Seward refers to Kendall as Richard III's "romantic apologist,", superseded by Charles Ross's 1981 biography. Ross himself both praised and criticised Kendall's work, stating: "Although the author admits that at times he goes beyond the facts and 'reconstructs'..., and in spite of an empurpled prose style which tends