King Arthur is part of the Myths and Legends series published by Osprey Publishing.
Written by Daniel Mersey and Illustrated by Alan Lathwell.
The book is what you you would expect from Osprey. That is it has a good binding, high test paper, and excellent art through all 80 pages of the book.
I think Daniel does an excellent job of bringing the myth of Arthurian legend into perspective. He takes the reader on a journey through Arthurian history, while showing the potential for the characters existence. He starts with the Medieval model, made popular by Hollywood, then moves to the Celtic model, and finishes up with the historic model. Daniel takes the immense history of Arthur and gives his reader and entertaining and factual presentation.
When I first started reading King Arthur, I was wondering what I would learn. I Always knew there was more to Arthur than I knew. It wasn’t long before I found that the book was difficult to put down. For about a week it became an addiction. When It was all said and down I had learned that Arthur has a lot more to him than I ever knew. Daniel goes into great detail about the stories that form Arthur’s legend. Without spoiling his book, Daniel does an excellent job of talking about the written and narrative history of King Arthur. Some of the more interesting, things to me, were; the accuracy of the legend as it spanned cultures; there are “giants” in the legend, and it may date back to maybe 175 A.D.
To finish out the book Daniel offers up cases that go against the theories of Arthur.
I found the book to be a very good read. I am looking forward to the rest of the Myths And Legends series.
