Richard II: The Fall of a King and the Rise of Lancastrian England - Hardcover

A clear and measured account of Richard II and the political instability that marked the late fourteenth-century English monarchy. In this volume from Jacob Abbott's Makers of History series, the life and reign of Richard II are presented with particular attention to the tensions between royal authority and aristocratic power that ultimately led to his deposition. Abbott traces Richard's early accession, his reliance on favourites, the Peasants' Revolt, and the growing discontent among the nobility that culminated in the rise of Henry Bolingbroke and the establishment of Lancastrian rule.

Written in a direct and accessible style, the narrative provides a structured introduction to one of the most consequential transitions in English medieval history. Abbott's account situates Richard II within the broader weakening of Plantagenet control and the conditions that would later erupt into the Wars of the Roses. This volume remains valuable both as a concise historical biography and as a representative example of nineteenth-century popular history written for a wide readership, including younger and general audiences.