King Arthur: Dark Age Warrior and Mythic Hero

Good basic introductory level book on King Arthur that looks at him from the historical and mythical perspective. Full of nice illustrations and pics too.

I was expecting a very different book when I read this! Instead of long, boring text book, I found it fun to read as well as informative. I especially loved the pictures as I love art. The insight on not only King Arthur, but Merlin, Quenevere, and other legendary characters was very interesting. It was nice to read some new ideas about the orgin of King Arthur, however some of the opinions did seem a little recycled. Also included were examples of stories, and lots of citings from medival writers. If you are looking for a good read about King Arthur I highly recommend this. It is fun to read, and also very informing, as well as visually entertaining!

In this wonderful book, author John Matthews presents the reader with Britain's King Arthur in his many forms. Beginning with a history of the Dark Ages, and the early historical resources that mention King Arthur, the author moves through all of the Arthurian legends in their manifold forms. All of the characters you are familiar with are here, and some are presented in an entirely new light. For example, in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini, Merlin is presented as a prophet and wild man. This is a great book! In a surprisingly small package, it contains a lot of information about King Arthur and the other characters of the stories, going well beyond the stories presented by Hollywood. Also, I must say that the many colorful pictures make this book a joy to read. So, if you are interested in King Arthur, then you really must get this book! I highly recommend it.

If you like to read about Arthurian legend and want to see the facts behind the myths, then this is a good book to turn to. It is filled with many written information historians have found as well as famous places during that time (Ie: Glastonbury and the place where they believe Camelot existed) And it is wonderfully illistrated too. Beautiful pictures of archiological findings and buildings and such. IT's such an astounding read as well as fun pictures to look at. Get this if you like that sort of thing.