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King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table: "Coming of Arthur"; The "Knights of the Round Table"; The "Quest of the Holy" (Puffin Classics)

By: Roger Lancelyn Green
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Puffin Classics
ISBN: 0140366709
ISBN-13: 9780140366709
Released: 30 Jun 1994
RRP: £4.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

An excellent book! - By: Dan Mersey, author of Arthur: King of the Britons, 25 Jul 2004
Many authors have dabbled with the stories of King Arthur, & of the many I have read, this book always sticks in my mind as one of the most entertaining reads.
A good place for anyone to start finding out about the legend of Arthur. Once you've finished this title, try to get hold of a copy of Rosemary Sutcliff's 'Sword at Sunset' for a completely different take on the story of Arthur. Both are highly recommended.
a brilliant book - By: Danny, 09 Feb 2004
i read this book & it started my whole interest in king arthur. since then i've gone on to look at the real life, historcial king arthur, & enjoy reading about him too. this book is a great read & fantastic introduction to the legend of king arthur.

if this book makes you want to go on to find out more about the historical king arthur, read "Legendary Warriors" & "The Discovery of King Arthur" when you've finished this.

Authoritative, delightful, gripping - By: MM Turner, 07 Feb 2004
King Arthur & His Knights of the Round Table is a detailed, authoritative _and_ exciting account of the Arthurian epic from beginning to end. Roger Lancelyn Green brought alll his scholarship to bear in getting the details just right from the source texts, and, as much as possible, preserving even the original phraseology, including the memorable "'Where,' he said 'is the governor of this gang?'" in Sir Gawain & the Green Knight.

This is not simply a translation, though. Unlike the Greek & Norse myths which were consciously reworked over many hundreds of years into a form of coherence, the Arthurian cycle is complex, diverse, & frequently self-contradictory. Many of the writers themselves misunderstood their source material.

In his introduction, Green explains why & how he wove this tangled thread of tales into a single epic. The result is a masterpiece of its kind. This is not a book of fine descriptions, insightful character development or lyrical speeches. It is written in the epic style with the epic voice, and, in so doing, tells a story whose power is chiefly in the episodes & the figures, rather than in the realisation & the characters.

Roger Lancelyn Green introduced me to the Greek, Egyptian & Norse myths, & I owe him a lot. They opened a door to the original texts, which later came to play an important part in my education. But as I grew up I discovered that the original texts were better than the Green retellings. This, of course, is to be expected.

With Arthur, though, I have to say that Green's book reallly does work for me better than Malllory or Chretien de Troyes. In rereading it recently I realised why so much of Arthurian lore seemed second nature to me while studying middle-english at university - I had read it alll before in this book.

I would recommend it to any child with an enquiring mind - it opened the Matter of Britain to me, & it will do so for them.

A Great Read - By: Shauna, 17 Sep 2003
I first read this book more than fifteen years ago while still at primary school. In the edition I read there were no illustrations but the quality & descriptive nature of the language had me hooked from the start. My imagination was fired by the heroic deeds of King Arthur & his Knights. This book is a great read & I would recommend it to anyone who like to lose themselves in a glorious book.
Pretty Good Book - By: , 24 Apr 1999
I found this a good book with superb detail, but this is meant to be a childrens novel. It was often hard to read . Overalll, it was a pretty good book.