The Boar and the Peacock

For centuries, Sir James Tyrell has been vilified for masterminding the murders of Edward V and his brother, Richard, duke of York, better known today as the Princes in the Tower. But who was this loyal servant of Richard III? And what, exactly, was his role in the tragic disappearance of the princes?

For Thomas More and William Shakespeare, Sir James Tyrell was the original evil henchman, a man so consumed by his own ambition he was prepared to kill two innocent children to ingratiate himself with his master. Others, however, believe he was only the ‘patsy’ whose name has been unfairly blackened by generations of Tudor propagandists.

Despite his central role in one of English history’s most enduring mysteries, Sir James Tyrell has never been the subject of a biography where he is the principal subject – until now. By re-examining this mysterious man's meteoric rise and precipitous fall, The Boar and the Peacock offers a groundbreaking perspective on the Wars of the Roses, the reign of Richard III and the dramatic chain of events that brought Henry Tudor to the throne.