Customer Reviews
A dark, legendary story - By: Stew Carr, 23 May 2008 
If there's such a thing as a cult/indie history book, then Geoffrey Richardson has nailed it with 'A Pride of Bastards'. The book tells the story of the illegitimate Beaufort dynasty, beginning with the legendary romance of John of Gaunt & Katherine Swynford, the lives of their four influential children & their progeny down to Margaret Beaufort - the mother of King Henry VII. The unstoppable rise of the Beauforts is marred by a constant stream of violence, tragedy & sudden death - so much so that is readsin many ways like a bloody Norse saga, & Richards' enthusiasm for the period is highly infectious. I disagree with some of the criticism over the bias of this book. Although they were no worse than many other clans of their time, & acted wisely & successfully, I believe the Beauforts were bastardsin all senses of the word, & Richardson's black judgement of their tidings adds inspiration to a story that could easily become remote. As the previous reviews show, readers are not so naive that they cannot distinguish the written history, backed up by evidence, from the authors opinion of it, which serves to spice up the story.
Richardson is right to place supreme importance on the Beauforts, whose actions served as the deciding factorin the battle between York & Lancaster. Richardson clearly understands the paradox of their illegitimate status - to be children of the crown but debarred from it, & the negative ways they acted out this frustration, eventually emerging as the real victors of the Wars of the Roses. Popular history has downplayed their relevance, but this book distinguishes itselfin devoting itself to the Beauforts & unveiling much of their forgotten history.
Readable, but hopelessly biased - By: Angevin, 18 Feb 2008 
As previous reviews have stated, this is a very readable book - the illustrations of the various battlesin particular deserve a mention as they do much to bring to life the text describing the encounters. However, the Beaufort family are subjected to a continual barrage of criticism & judgement for actions which, although admittedly unpleasant, are really no worse than those of their contemporaries from other families. The often venal, self-serving & downright vicious behaviour of the latter is merely described, usually without comment. The Beauforts were undoubtedly no saints, but neither were any of the other major players at this pointin history & I fail to understand why their behaviour has been selected by Mr Richardson for particular opprobrium. This, I feel, is a major flawin the book & one which materially damaged my enjoyment of it. Although I would still recommend this book to other readers, I would do so with caution & urge them to chose other, less biased books on this subject if they want a rather more even-handed view of the period.
Disappointing - By: Toglet, 16 Aug 2007 Although the style is readable, it is clear that Mr Richardson is no fan of the Beauforts. I found this to be a very biased history of the Beaufort family.
The Beaufort family - By: Mrs. D. J. Smith, 10 May 2005 
Geoffrey Richardson has a concise & readable style, which make his books a pleasure to read, but there is no lack of relevant detail. The Hollow Crowns deals with the battles of the Wars of the Roses & The Deceivers deals with the mystery of the Princesin the Tower & Richardson has complemented these with three volumes each following one of the three most instrumental familiesin the Wars of the Roses.
A Pride of Bastards gives us the story of the Beauforts, illegitimate family of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster & son of Edward III, by Katherine Swynford. The Beauforts inherited not only Gaunt's royal blood, but his thirst for a crown - & preferably the English one at that. Despite their legitimation by Henry IV, the Bar Sinister remained as far as inheritance of the Crown was concerned, but the pride of this family ensured that this bastard sprig of Lancaster would be a driving force behind the conflicts of the Wars of the Roses. The Beauforts would stop at very littlein pursuit of wealth & power. History would have been very different, & a lot less bloody, without them.
