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Here is the magical legend of King Arthur, vividly retold through the
eyes and lives of the women who wielded power from behind the throne.
A spellbinding novel, an extraordinary literary achievement, The Mists
of Avalon will stay with you for a long time to come....
The Sword And The Stone recreates, against the background of magnificent
pageantry and dark magic that was medieval England, the education and
training of young King Arthur, who was to become the greatest of Britain's
legendary rulers. Growing up in a colorful world peopled by knights
in armor and fair damsels, foul monsters and evil witches, young Arthur
slowly learns the code of being a gentleman. Under the wise guidance
of Merlin, the all-powerful magician for whom life progresses backwards,
the king-to-be is trained in the gusty pursuits of falconry, jousting,
hunting and sword play.
Now updated with a brand new information packed 40-page supplement
covering the years 1990-1995, this unique Encyclopedia highlights the
World of King Arthur from its origins in Dark Age Britain to the present
day, when Arthurian novels, films, and music continue to appear around
the world at an astonishing rate.
The first book John Steinbeck read as a child was the Caxton Morte
d'Arthur, and he considered it one of the most challenging tasks of
his career to modernize the stories of King Arthur. "These stories
are alive even in those of us who have not read them. And, in our day,
we are perhaps impatient with the words and the stately rhythms of Malory.
I wanted to set the stories down in meaning as they were written, leaving
out nothing and adding nothing."
Arthur, having defeated the last holdouts of civil war in southern
Britain, has secured King Mordred's throne. But the unified kingdom
seems no steadier, its balance threatened by Merlin's ceaseless - and
some say futile - quest for the last of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain,
by the conflict between the ancient religion and the new Christianity,
and by Britain's war against the Saxons. Arthur must face other foes
as well, foes more powerful and more dangerous - becuase they pose as
friends. |
King Arthur, Camelot, Excalibur, Merlin, the Holy Grail, Lancelot,
and Guinevere--these names are some of the most recognizable and evocative
in the cultural heritage of the West. They conjure up vibrant images
of medieval Europe, of chivalry, and of romance. But did Arthur really
exist, or is Camelot only a dream? In this marvelously illustrated survey,
Christopher Snyder examines the realities and the impact of the Arthurian
legends on history and the arts.
The text is Alfred Pollard's abridgment, an extremely well-written
and highly entertaining rendition of Sir Thomas Malory's the Morte d'Arthur.
Pollard points out in his introduction that Mallory himself was the
first to abridge the original Arthurian romances. Pollard in turn attempted
to cull further the many repetitions found in Mallory. The result is
this readable edition of the classic tales of King Arthur.
It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling
as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume
of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns
to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur. The
tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished
and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the
throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people.
In The Winter King and Enemy of God Bernard Cornwell demonstrated his
astonishing ability to make the oft-told legend of King Arthur fresh
and new for our time. Now, in this riveting final volume of The Warlord
Chronicles, Cornwell tells the unforgettable tale of Arthur's final
struggles against the Saxons and his last attempts to triumph over a
ruined marriage and ravaged dreams. This is the tale not only of a broken
love remade, but also of forces both earthly and unearthly that threaten
everything Arthur stands for.
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