Annette Carson

Having originally studied at the Royal College of Music, Annette Carson's career has included working as a TV Organiser for Equity, Programme Manager for Thames TV, and in PR and advertising as an award-winning copywriter. A freelance author with a preference for history and biography, she has sold over 60,000 non-fiction books on subjects including Richard III and aviation. Her first book, 'Flight Unlimited' has been translated into French and Italian. See also her Wikipedia page. Carson writes articles, gives talks, and has contributed to Encyclopædia Britannica. Her biography of guitar legend Jeff Beck has sold over 17,000 copies worldwide. In 1989 her history of aerobatics, 'Flight Fantastic', won wide acclaim and was awarded the Tissandier Diploma of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Her latest aviation book is 'Camel Pilot Supreme', the authorised biography of legendary First World War pilot Captain D.V. Armstrong - her biographical article in 'Over The Front' won their award for Best Biography 2019. With a lifelong interest in Richard III, she has published a series of books on this English king. 'Richard III: The Maligned King' is an analysis of his reign based on contemporary information rather than the traditional story (2008, revised 2013, new revised edition December 2023). This book led to Carson being invited to become a historical consultant on the Looking For Richard Project, the team led by Philippa Langley who conceived and organised the search for Richard III's lost grave. The Project, which funded the search and hired the archaeologists to perform the dig, was successful in finding the king on 25 August 2012. She then edited and published, under her personal publishing imprint, the paperback 'Finding Richard III: The Official Account' (short title), being the only authentic account of all the years of research, preparations and negotiations involved in mounting the historic search (recently dramatised in the film 'The Lost King'). Now a Fellow of the Richard III Society, she has published three more books in her series on Richard III. A short paperback, 'Richard III: A Small Guide to the Great Debate' (2013, revised edition December 2023), aimed at explaining the controversy to the general reader. In 2015 she published her important contribution to the understanding of Richard's protectorate, 'Richard Duke of Gloucester as Lord Protector and High Constable of England'. This explains Richard's status and responsibilities in relation to these two high offices, previously poorly understood and frequently underestimated. Her latest addition to the Ricardian canon is a new edition, as paperback and ebook, of the report written by Domenico Mancini, an Italian eye-witness to events in England when Richard III came to the throne. Previously translated in the 1930s in an edition that leaves much to be desired to modern eyes, Carson's edition, like her other Ricardian books, has earnt high praise from the Richard III Society, and offers a more accurate translation informed by 21st-century scholarship. The title is taken from the Latin original: 'Domenico Mancini, de occupatione regni Anglie'. In 2021-2023 she set her own work aside to assist Dr Arthur Kincaid, whose health was failing, to ensure publication of his magisterial new edition of 'The History of King Richard the Third' written in 1619 by Sir George Buc, Master of the Revels to King James I. Retrieving and editing his files, and taking them through the design, corrections and printing processes, she enabled publication by the Society of Antiquaries with sponsorship by the Richard III Society.