I wish I could start this review using the introduction to this beautiful and sensual book. For that’s all you would need to be swept away to another time. A time, around 800 years ago, when the young King Arthur assembled his finest knights to share his Round Table.
At the beginning of this book we are taken back to Arthur’s birth when he was spirited away from his sobbing mother and carried to his foster-parents, Sir Ector and Lady Margery. This was the beginning of a charmed childhood with his elder brother, Kay, with whom he had many adventures.
Reading on we meet Merlin, the magician, and Sir Lancelot, who has a shield with three scarlet stripes to show he is as strong as three strong men. As we turn the pages we read how Arthur is crowned King of all England at the age of 15, and how the young king falls in love with the beautiful Guinevere, which is just one of the passionate love matches within this book.
The author tells us that ‘these are the stories of a king and of a glorious dream still very much alive, alive for all generations and all times.’
Arthur is full of exciting tales from medieval times with sumptuous illustrations on every page. It will certainly be treasured by me, and hopefully by many more readers of all ages.
Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age Guide 8+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Crossley-Holland’s name is synonymous with the great sagas and Arthurian legends, but he is also an eminent man of letters across multiple genres. Translator, poet, librettist, essayist, lecturer, novelist, memoirist. . . the list goes on. A career-spanning collection of pieces, New Leaves on an Old Tree illustrates what this great body of work means to Crossley-Holland. From old English mythmaking to exploring the way folk tales still permeate the narratives of our lives, here is a celebration of a lifetime’s work scrutinising the power and function of story.
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