Arthur, High King of Britain [Paperback]

Michael Morpurgo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002

As the sea sweeps in, the boy is suddenly cut off in his attempt to walk round the Scilly Isles from Great Ganilly to St Martin's. Having given up hope of survival, he finds himself waking up beside a warm fire with the man, Arthur Pendragon, and his dog, Bercelet, who have rescued him. Arthur tells him the incredible story of his life while the seawater dries out of boy's clothes. His tale begins with his legendary pulling of the sword from the stone, his leadership of an army to defeat the Saxons and his celebrated court at Camelot. From then on, he tells of the great and tragic love between himself, Guinevere and Lancelot and the numerous deeds and adventures of the knights of the Round Table. Finally, the curse of Morgana Le Fey come true and Arthur's son, Mordred, kills him, but not before he can watch Bedivere return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. After the wonders of the story, the boy returns home, looking forward to surprising his family with his adventure - but time in the cave where Arthur hibernates until it is time for him to rule again has stood still, and the boy's family have not even noticed he was gone.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-7. Morpurgo's retelling of nine familiar stories about Arthur Pendragon and the Knights of the Round Table is beautifully presented and certain to attract browsers. It is Morpurgo's faithfulness to the original stories, however, and the fine writing that captures all the adventure, drama, and tragedy that will engage readers. Arthur himself tells the tales to a 12-year-old boy, who awakes in Arthur's cave after atempting to walk the seabed to the Eastern Isles. As the boy recovers, he learns how Arthur became king, hears the legend of Excalibur and the adventures of the knights, and finds out about the end of Camelot. Although the Green Knight appears in armor when he is described wearing different attire, Foreman's hazy watercolors are usually a perfect complement to the dreamy, bygone-times quality of the stories. Arthurian retellings abound, but libraries should consider adding Morpurgo's admirable narrative to their collections. Chris Sherman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Told as a reminiscence by Arthur Pendragon himself, this recounting of the Knights of the Round Table consolidates all of the tales into one seamless narrative. Here is Gawain fighting the Green Knight, Tristram pining for Iseult, and the infamous dalliance of Arthur's queen, Guinevere, with his beloved knight, Launcelot. Each episode contributes to the early rise and final painful dissolution of Arthur's kingdom. The tales are true to their roots; there is violence, and several key figures are conceived out of wedlock, but no graphic details are divulged. Full color illustrations help sustain the mystical tone. (Children's Literature )

Gr. 4-7. Morpurgo's retelling of nine familiar stories about Arthur Pendragon and the Knights of the Round Table is beautifully presented and certain to attract browsers. It is Morpurgo's faithfulness to the original stories, however, and the fine writing that captures all the adventure, drama, and tragedy that will engage readers. Arthur himself tells the tales to a 12-year-old boy, who awakes in Arthur's cave after atempting to walk the seabed to the Eastern Isles. As the boy recovers, he learns how Arthur became king, hears the legend of Excalibur and the adventures of the knights, and finds out about the end of Camelot. Although the Green Knight appears in armor when he is described wearing different attire, Foreman's hazy watercolors are usually a perfect complement to the dreamy, bygone-times quality of the stories. Arthurian retellings abound, but libraries should consider adding Morpurgo's admirable narrative to their collections. (Booklist - Chris Sherman ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Egmont Books (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749748516
• ISBN-13: 978-0749748517
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,157,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A DON'T MISS., April 6, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Arthur, High King of Britain (Hardcover)

This book is the best I'll probably ever read.I think the illustrations are excellent, and it's made an old story come to life. My favourite thing about the story is how it keep's popping up with new ideas, and how it goes in and out of him telling the story and the boy actually being there in the cave. My favourite character is Bercelet,I like the idea of him being Merlin's eyes and ears. I think it's a shame about Lancelot and King Arthur fighting and that Lancelot took Arthur's wife.It's brilliant! I look forward to reading more books by Michael Morpurgo.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars buyer beware, March 29, 2008

By 

John Lederman (Stratford, Ontario) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arthur, High King of Britain (Paperback)

At the time of writing this there are 12 listings (on amazon.ca) of "Arthur, High King Of England" by Michael Morpungo and Michael Foreman. Two are audio cassettes. Eight of the ten remaining books all have the same two reader's reviews and same two product reviews attached to all eight listed editions of this book. The books are all clearly different: hardcover, softcover, different editions range in overall size dimensions and in pages from 144 to 256. Different copyright years and publishers. The price range is from three or so dollars Cdn to about fifty-five. The cover of one appears to perhaps have a different illustrator, but the "search inside" feature takes one to the same single different edition of this book so is not helpful to discern what the differences of this edition or any of the various editions may be.

I came to this book actually searching through Michael Foreman's work, an illustrator whose watercolor work I find very evocative. Imagine my disappointment and the lack of helpfulness when, through eight editions, two (times 8) product reviews and two (times 8) reader's reviews, there is no mention of the illustration whatsoever.

After ordering the book and its arrival I found that this amazon web page of Arthur High King of Britain (with the blue cover of an older adolescent on a charging horse, the Egmont edition) is completely misleading. The reproductions of the illustrations inside are all in black and white and cropped to death, completely destroying Michael Foreman's sense of space, color and action, which you get a taste of on the cover at least, and no where on the web page is this stated. In the "search inside" feature in fact, some of the color plates of a different edition are shown.

Don't order this book, hold out for a color edition. You'll be glad you did. Admonish amazon to represent the product(s) accurately and fairly so that you may make an informed decision, and not have to find out by ordering the book and returning it. I am a little surprised that the author and editor would even allow this edition to come out, so poorly does it portray their work together, but I know that sometimes when a publisher acquires the rights they do with it what they want.

Here are some specific recommendations/requests:
1) Don't attach the "search inside" feature to any different edition of the same title. Attach it to the one from which it was scanned only.
2) For children's or any illustrated book, don't attach a literary product review only. Without a review of the illustration of that particular edition, an equally integral part of the publication, any review is incomplete and inadequate and even misleading, for which, in this case, amazon bears the responsibility for posting it.

More accurate reviews of the various other editions would still be helpful.

I further found after posting this review, that it automatically has been added to editions of the book for which I did not write it, hence my description of the cover of the one to which it applies (the Egmont edition).

I should mention, the text is reviewed in a good cross section in the other reviews currently posted at least on the amazon.ca site. Some five star reviews and one review there that gives it one star based on the morally conservative position that this book exposes the topic of incest in a book ostensibly aimed at children/adolescents.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, February 16, 2008

By 

Carel Bennett "Caz" (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arthur - High King of Britain (Hardcover)

I think this is the version I had (someone stole mine a year ago - I'm trying to find the right version again). So, if I'm right about the version, this audiobook is the best thing I've ever listened to. The author and narrator makes the entire story come to life! A boy gets rescued from an incoming tide and taken to the legendary 'Avalon' by none other than Arthur Pendragon, High King of Britain. Arthur tells him some of the fabulous stories of himself and his friends: the Knights of the Round Table (Gawain, Lancelot and Tristrum), Merlin and Guenivere, and the horrible treachery of his half-sister and their son, I believe their names were Morgana Le Fay, and Mordred. I was listening to it at the age of 7-8 years old, and I've always thought it was wonderful (I'm 17 now). I miss it so much, I can still hear the sound of the sea, and the voices. I can still imagine the scenes, and remember almost all of most of the stories. It is quite possibly the most intense, wonderful, fantastic audiobook in the world. I find I loved it more than my music and other audiobooks that I've been listening to since (so not a stereotyical teenager then). I've also found that ordering it from Amazon.com makes the handling and shipping price more than the cost of the actual audiobook itself! (I live in England) Which means I'm not allowed to get it, and Amazon.co.uk doesn't stock it. Still, it's a fantastic story, with amazing narration and anyone, kid or adult, who has it or can listen to it is extremely lucky. Don't take it for granted if you love it - it might not always be there.