King Arthur

This anthology brings together sixteen essays that trace where the Arthurian legend came from and how writers have reshaped Arthur over the centuries. Its opening sections weigh the evidence for a real Arthur, while later chapters follow him through medieval romance, nineteenth-century painting and fiction, and twentieth-century novels.

Among the authors whose treatments of the king are examined are Malory, Spenser, Tennyson and T.H. White. Taken together, the essays chart the main shifts in how Arthur has been imagined, from early chronicle to modern retelling.