The World of King Arthur and His Court: People, Places, Legend, and Lore

An excellent blend of history and folklore, The World of King Arthur and His Court manages to emphasize the importance of the Arthurian ideal while carefully outlining the legend's sources and possible origins. Kevin Crossley-Holland includes several quotations from period literature, flavoring his discrete bits of Arthurian lore with the words and notions of the time. Add Peter Malone's jewel-toned illustrations, and readers of all ages are certain to find this book an enjoyable introduction to the topic.

Physically, the book is quite nice, but it is also sort of odd and distant. The best part is the quotation at the end: William Caxton explaining in the preface to his history of Troy that he became so exhausted from copying the book out so his friends could read his work that he built the first printing press in England instead. Way to go, Caxton.

Great non fiction about the mythical king and his court. It blends truth, folklore, and poetry to teach King Arthur fans about the time in which he lived. I only wished there was more about Arthur's background, heritage and rise to power.

While this book does talk about the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Holland delves into what life was like for people during the time period of the King Arthur legends. When discussing the Knights, Holland touches on the idea of courtly love and how this was very important to knights at this time. Holland also describes other important toughest from this time, such as arms and armor, tournaments and tilting, and the Holy Grail and many more. The section on Camelot not only tells readers about the myth of this land about also about what castle life was truly like during this time.

I don’t think this whole book could be used in a classroom considering its length; but I feel like sections could be used in a show more variety of classes.

The illustrations seem to mimic art of this time period which is important because it gives readers a visualization of what certain aspects of life were like. show less

A good reference book to use along with stories of King Arthur. Colorful illustrations, poems, definitions, and history. Great book!

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