Customer Reviews

The Landscape of King Arthur

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a lovely book, filled with photographs of places where certain people (or 'characters') are said to have lived and died, such as King Arthur and Merlin. The author is not trying to tell readers that the stories are true- he is almost constantly differentiating the impossibilities of legend and folk tale from the distinct possibilities that there may have been a young king (or general) who had made a hilltop his headquarters, and that he and his knights may have possibily fought some battles throughout Scotland, England and Wales. Geoffrey Ashe, himself more of a pragmatist than a romanticist, has researched his subjects extremely well (as much as humanly possible), often visiting woods, coasts, hilltops and ruins in search of some impressions where facts are not available in order to put myths, legends and historical possibilities in perspective. Some interesting bits come up in the text, such as the fact that the author was contacted by Warner Brothers about the making of CAMELOT (they wanted to know where the real Camelot would have been set), and that the map which you see in the classic musical is based on the author's recommendation.

Whether you take these anecdotes seriously or not, it's a great book which makes one imagine who might have existed and where certain legendary events may have occured.