Digging for Richard III: The Search for the Lost King - Hardcover

Mike Pitts has been the editor of British Archaeology, Britain’s leading archaeology magazine, for over fifteen years, following and reporting on an extraordinary number of discoveries and scientific breakthroughs. He is an award-winning journalist and archaeologist who has researched subjects ranging from Easter Island to Stonehenge.

“Highly recommended. [Mike] Pitts effectively conveys the excitement of the discovery, clearly and vividly describing the process and the personalities. Writing this book must have been the dream of a lifetime for him, and he has risen to the occasion. STARRED REVIEW”
- Kirkus Reviews

“As gripping as any detective fiction. . . . Pitts’s book is proof that one doesn’t need to be fascinated with Richard III to be enthralled by the story of his body’s discovery.”
- Publishers Weekly

“This remarkable cold-case-file narrative is a must for all English history buffs.”
- Library Journal

“This compelling and easily accessible account of the dig for the remains of King Richard III of England will appeal to a broad cross-section of readers, including history, mystery, and archaeology buffs. Combining Richard’s history and demise, the physical excavation itself, and cutting-edge forensic science involved, the author seamlessly weaves this centuries-in-the-making tale into a dramatic thriller. Pitts is an archaeologist himself, and his passionate enthusiasm for his subject matter is contagious.”
- Booklist/American Library Association

“A readable archaeological perspective on the dig that led to the sensational discovery in 2012 of the skeleton of England’s King Richard III, buried in 1485. . . . Highly recommended.”
- Choice

“Pitts recounts the exhilarating dig--in which the lead archaeologist promised to eat his hat if the skeleton actually turned up.”
- Scientific American

“Illuminates the tangled, bloody wars of 15th-century England and patient excavation work of 21st-century researchers....Informative.”
- Christian Science Monitor

“An amazing story.”
- The Dispatch

“It reads like an Indiana Jones adventure, albeit without the obligatory bad guys.”
- Portland Book Review

“At its liveliest, Pitts' account reads like a police procedural, with clues, false leads, and finally a killing unraveled and a mystery triumphantly solved.... As much about the diggers as about who or what they dug up.”
- The Dallas Morning News