Quest for Arthur's Britain [Hardcover]

Geoffrey Ashe (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

...this work is of great importance and interest: long may it continue and prosper -- The Guardian

Ideal for romantic patriots and for those with a serious interest in our national origins. -- The Observer

Most scholars now regard the legendary Arthur's reality as probable and accept "Arthurian Britain" as a meaningful historical term. Solid facts have emerged through the recent work of archaeologists. The Quest For Arthur's Britain examines the historical foundations of the Arthurian tradition, and then, in five archaeological chapters, presents the results of excavations to date at Cadbury (reputed site of Camelot), Tintagel, Glastonbury, and less-known places. An outline of Arthurian Britain takes shape, and several fascinating questions emerge. Were the Dark Ages in Britain a transitory, unimportant period? Or did the Celtic resistance against the Anglo-Saxons (a resistance identified with Arthur) have a profound effect on the development of the British Isles? The Quest For Arthur's Britain is a serious and informative work of scholarship that reads as smoothly as the finest fiction. -- Midwest Book Review

The best sort of historical detective story. -- The Economist --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Pall Mall Press (October 1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0269992820
• ISBN-13: 978-0269992827
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,048,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slightly obsolete, but still a classic., October 11, 1998

By 

Nelson R. Willis "Rob Willis" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quest For Arthur's Britain (Paperback)

If I were reviewing this book when it was brand new at the end of the sixties, I would have had to give it five stars. The only reason that I am demoting it by a star is that it is slightly out of date. New archaeological data and new historical insights call for an updated edition of this great book. I wrote the chief author and editor of this book, Geoffrey Ashe, to congratulate and praise him for all his wonderful work on this subject. I especially praised his _The Discovery of King Arthur_ which was released in 1985 (I gave that one a five star review). I told him that since he had completely revolutionized the subject with that one, even great books like _Quest for Arthur's Britain_ and _Arthur's Britain_ by Leslie Alcock (I gave that one a four star review), who wrote some of the chapters of _Quest for Arthur's Britain_, now need to be updated a bit. I was extremely fortunate to get a reply from Mr. Ashe, who acknowledged that while these books were state-of-the-art when they first came out, they are now out of date in some ways. For example, some of the chronological data could stand to be updated; more and more data continues to come to light shifting certain events and figures back a bit; Arthur for example is now believed to have flourished about a generation earlier than was once thought. This beautifully illustrated book serves several functions: it gives an overview of the evolution of the Arthurian legend; there's a chapter on the end of Roman Britain; there are several chapters by great archaeologists (Phil Rhatz, C. A. Raleigh Radford, and Leslie Alcock) whose ground-breaking (excuse the pun) discoveries have greatly illuminated our understanding of the Arthurian age (5th and 6th centuries); and there is a good chapter on everyday life in the Arthurian age (food, fashion, etc.).

1.0 out of 5 stars Ashe is dreaming, December 18, 2011

By 

Glorian - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quest for Arthur's Britain (Paperback)

This book is often taught in Arthurian classes as an example of the mistakes historians can make by engaging with a problem with a preconceived idea of what they want to discover. Dr. Ashe presents evidence that does not preclude the existence of an Arthur and uses this for proof that there was an Arthur, which are not the same thing and would not be nearly so compelling to someone who did not begin believing that there was something to find. The development of an Arthurian tradition - and the stunningly disparate accounts of the supposed "man" himself - are so fractured as to make it difficult to find any single unitary thread. Far more likely that the idea of a single King Arthur grew from elements of Celtic folklore concerning heroes named Arthur and the more general desire for a salvation myth for P-Celtic culture, then in the process of being overrun by population shifts from mainland Germany and Denmark.