The Realm: The True history behind Game of Thrones

  Further reading

  Ackroyd, Peter Foundation

  Ashley, Mike British Kings and Queens

  Brooke, Christopher The Saxons and Norman Kings

  Clements, Jonathan Vikings

  Crossley-Holland, Kevin The Anglo-Saxon World

  Duffy, Maureen England

  Fraser, Antonia The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England

  Goodwin, George Fatal Colours

  Groom, Nick Union Jack The Story of the British Flag

  Hannan, Daniel How We invented Freedom

  Hindley, Geoffrey A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons

  Holmes, George The Later Middle Ages 1272-1485

  Jones, Dan The Plantagenets

  Lacey, Robert Great Tales from English History (Parts One and Two)

  McLynn, Frank Lionheart and Lackland

  Morris, Marc The Norman Conquest

  Mortimer, Ian The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III

  Oliver, Neil A History of Ancient Britain

  Ormrod, W.M. The Kings and Queen of England

  Palmer, Alan Kings and Queens of England

  Read, Piers Paul The Templars

  Schama, Simon A History of Britain

  Speck, W.A. A Concise History of Britain

  Strong, Roy The Story of Britain

  Weir, Alison Lancaster and York

  White, R.J. A Short History of England

  Wood, Harriet The Battle of Hastings

  *There is also a website, http://history-behind-game-of-thrones.com which looks at the real-life events that inspired Game of Thrones.

  Footnotes

  i Kendall, Paul Murray Richard the Third

  ii Bryson, Bill Mother Tongue

  iii There is debate about the circumstances of Tyler’s death, and who drew a weapon first and why. Suffice it to say that the meeting didn’t go well for him.

  iv Much of this is of course conjecture or guesswork, there being few sources for the period; most of our information comes from a miserable British chronicler called Gildas, whose account of the period, The Ruin and Conquest of Britain, is unsurprisingly rather negative about the recent turn of events.

  v Freeman, Charles A New History of Early Christianity

  vi Clements, Jonathan Vikings

  vii Schama, Simon A History of Britain

  viii Schama, Simon

  ix Schama, Simon

  x http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/mar/24/game-of-thrones-realistic-history

  xi Morris, Marc The Norman Conquest

  xii Jones, Dan The Plantagenets

  xiii Jones, Dan

  xiv Schama, Simon

  xv Ormrod, W.D. The Kings and Queens of England

  xvi http://history-behind-game-of-thrones.com/real-events/unsullied-thermopylae

  xvii Anyone who could prove he owned land at the start of Richard’s reign did not have to show how his family came by it, because before that was beyond memory.

  xviii Jones, Dan

  xix Hannan, Daniel How We Invented Freedom

  xx Jones, Dan

  xxi Like almost everything from this period, this is disputed by some historians

  xxii http://history-behind-game-of-thrones.com/gameofthrones/walder-frey-weddings-warwick

  xxiii http://history-behind-game-of-thrones.com/real-events/redwedding

  xxiv Goodwin, George Fatal Colours

  xxv This is admittedly a colourful version of events. What really took place, to paraphrase comedian Stewart Lee, was probably not quite as romantic.

  xxvi Weir, Alison Weir Lancaster and York

  xxvii Admittedly it was Thomas More who first wrote this, and he was not exactly an impartial observer of Richard III; however Gloucester was in charge of the Tower at the time, so it’s not implausible.

  xxviii Goodwin, George Fatal Rivalry

  xxix This is at least one tradition for the rhyme, first recorded in the 18th century but thought to be much older.

  xxx How much say the young boy had in this is obviously open to question.