King Arthur: The True Story

An absolutely fascinating angle on the King Arthur legend. Phillips and Keatman not only propose that the story originated in central England rather than the southwest of the country as previously supposed, but they identify ruins that they are convinced was the real Camelot. This book has done more than any I have read so far to prove that Arthur was an historical figure. I have visited the place they claim was Arthur's burial site and it really is a beautiful and mysterious location. I have spoken to other British historians who tend to think that the site should be properly excavated. Although it is full of scholarly research this book is very easy to read.

Myths and legends span around the life of King Arthur and what the truth really is is hard to tell. Phillips and Keatman did a marvelous job compiling the scarce information available and let the reader participate in how the data was compiled and put in order.Of all the books I read on the historical King Arthur this is by far the best. If there are errors in their reasoning it might attribute to the fact that not many reliable sources on the subject are out there but so far this is the most convincing attempt at getting the most out of it.

I am a sceptic at heart, and have been disappointed in the past by fantastical works on Arthur and similar themes, so I approached this book with trepidation. My faith in the genre is restored, however. This book is authoritative, accurate in its sources, and assumptions and theories made by the authors are clearly identified as such. Of course this book attracts the epithet 'flawed' - every Arthur fan has his or her own theory that this book will contradict in some way but it is unfair to say that Phillips and Keatman's interpretation of thousand year-old texts in dead languages is less valid than that of any other author, particularly when they go to great lengths (a) to show how they derive their own interpretation, and (b) to present conflicting interpretations that have been made by others but which they have discarded. Above all, this book is scientific - the authors seem to have set out with no theory to justify, just with a genuine desire to follow threads of research as they arise, and they present their findings clearly and stylishly, and without the 'this is the only answer' approach that so many other writers take to the subject.

The glitz and baubles of Arthurian mythology are stripped away as a real person, in a murderous time, is pulled out of the scraps of documentation and the lore of the Brittons in the fifth century. A solid piece of work!

King Arthur: The True Story is the best book on the market about the true Arthur, his life, and his kingdom. Phillips and Keatman spin a dectective-like web of history and legend, then use Sherlock Holmes's deductive method to sweep aside the myths and exaggerations and discover the real King Arthur, the fifth-century king of Powys, Owain Ddantgwyn. An interesting fact to note is that Owain's family married into the house of Wessex, which would make today's English royalty descended from him. Owain was a true British national hero, saving, however temporarily, his beloved land from the clutches of the Saxons. King Arthur: The True Story is an enthralling journey into the real "Camelot" that I didn't want to end