The roots of this wonderful retelling of the story of Arthur and his knights can be found mostly in Sir Thomas Malory, but also in sources as rich as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Mabinogion and old Irish tragedies. It’s irresistible stuff that calls to the romantic in all of us and Rosemary Sutcliff infuses her version of the legend with a spine-tingling sense of poetry and mystery, while telling the story simply and with a driving narrative. It reads aloud brilliantly, and makes a superb book for sharing at bedtime. ~ Andrea Reece
Rooted in folklore, medieval ideals of chivalry, and the last gallant struggles of the British against the Saxon invaders, this book tells the story of the birth of Arthur, the gift of Excalibur, the forming of the Round Table and the first noble quests of its knights until the arrival of Percival.
This edition includes child-friendly endnotes, a quiz and some facts about the Arthurian legends.
Rosemary Sutcliff was born in Surrey, the daughter of a naval officer. At the age of two she contracted the progressively wasting Still's disease, and hence spent most of her life in a wheelchair. Her first children's book was published in 1950, and from then on she devoted her time and talents to the writing of children's historical novels, which have placed her name high in the field of contemporary children's literature. Rosemary received an OBE in the 1975 Birthday Honours List. Rosemary Sutcliff's novels about Roman Britain have won much critical acclaim. The best-known of these is her The Eagle of the Ninth trilogy, of which the second book in the trilogy, The Lantern Bearers, was awarded the 1959 Carnegie Medal. Rosemary died in 1992 at the age of 72.
