Dr Joanna Laynesmith delighted us with a detailed account of how she set about researching material for her award-winning book The Last Medieval Queens.

She shocked us when she announced that she had never been asked to wear gloves when examining old manuscripts, unlike the researchers on Time Team!

Her research took her to the Bodleian, the British Library and York University Library. She stressed the need to check originals - you only quote secondary sources for their interpretation of what the original says, not what they say the original says. Secondary sources tell you where to look in the original, thus saving time.

Only 1200 copies of the hardback were printed. The price is now £35 but members of the Richard III Society can get a 20% discount if they order direct from Oxford University Press using the special form. The paperback is coming out in summer.

Authors have to get to know other authors’ reputations and whether their judgement can be relied upon or not. Also whose opinions fellow academics value - Alison Weir being an example of who not to quote! Desmond Seward is also not quoted though Joanna did read part of his book.

She showed us colour pictures of some of the illustrations in the book. These went in the raffle and I won a set so I’ve put them in the branch history.

Joanna’s book is joint winner of the Longman-History Today Book of the Year award. There are two good reviews of her book in the branch history, courtesy of Geoffrey Wheeler.