Colin Richmond – författare

The Paston family papers provide an incomparable picture of life in fifteenth-century England, and richly illustrate the resources of the language at an important period. They have long been consulted by historians and other students of the fifteenth century for their information about social history and politics, both within East Anglia and also nationally. The authoritative edition of Parts 1 and 2 by Professor Norman Davis was published by the Clarendon Press in 1971 (Part 1) and 1976 (Part 2), and was reissued with corrections by EETS in 2004. Part 3, edited by Dr Richard Beadle and Professor Colin Richmond, completes the series planned by Professor Davis before his death. It contains the remaining texts with indexes to all three parts.

John Hopton's adult life spanned the years between 1430 and 1478, reputedly one of the most turbulent periods in English history. He, however, neither seems to have been troubled by the 'Wars of the Roses', nor to have displayed those attitudes normally attributed to the upper classes of the time: unflagging self-esteem, brutal ambition, grasping competitiveness. If his vices were not extravagant, his virtues too were unexceptional, those perhaps of a type of country gentleman we usually associate with a later age. Colin Richmond's book is an attempt to place a particular English gentleman in the framework of the world he knew. It opens with the story of this landless Yorkshireman's acquisition of rich properties in Suffolk, and a discussion of those estates themselves, how they were managed and their yield; it continues with a description of John, his remarkable second wife Thomasin, their family, and their life at Blythburgh.

The Pastons of Paston, Norfolk, are famous for the collection of letters and papers which bear their name. In particular 'the Paston Letters' have been well known since the time of Horace Walpole, although until now they have never been used systematically by historians of fifteenth-century England: they are both immensely attractive to read and fiendishly difficult to use as source material from which to write history. This volume describes, in lively and original style, the beginnings of the family's gentility and sets out some of the major themes of their history between 1400 and 1500. Many of the themes are common to all gentry families of the later Middle Ages, a period critical in the formation of the English polity. It might also be said that the Pastons epitomize a class which since the later Middle Ages has dominated the English state, English society and English culture.

The Paston family have long been famous for the large collection of letters and papers which bear their name. However, only recently have the 'Paston Letters' been used systematically by historians of fifteenth-century England: they are both attractive to read and fiendishly difficult to use as source material for the historian. This, the second volume in Colin Richmond's individual and compelling study of the Pastons, describes the bitter disputes over the will of Sir John Fastolf (d. 1459) which dogged the family for many years, and which hold a wider significance for the law, English country society, and the complex politics of the fifteenth century. Professor Richmond uses his mastery of the Paston documents to illuminate many obscurities surrounding the will, and at the same time creates an insightful and sympathetic picture of this fascinating, often troubled family.

Drawing on documentary and oral sources in Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Dutch and French, this book challenges many sterotypes about Belsen, and reinstates the groups hitherto marginalized or ignored in accounts of the camp and its liberation.

Drawing on documentary and oral sources in Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Dutch and French, this book challenges many sterotypes about Belsen, and reinstates the groups hitherto marginalized or ignored in accounts of the camp and its liberation.