The Pastime of People

The book which you are about to see is astonishingly rare. It is entitled "The Pastime of People" and was written in 1529, within 45 years of the Yorkist period, by John Rastell. Although the book begins almost in prehistory and continues to the end of Richard's reign, only the part which deals with the Yorkists has been reproduced here.

An interesting feature of the book is that it contains an early account of the fate of the "Princes in the Tower", the lost sons of Edward IV. Although the account was written within living memory of the time of the Princes themselves, we must nevertheless be rather wary of it-- as Rastell was none other than Thomas More's brother-in-law!

--- Michael  Alan Marshall

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The Pastime of People