Arthur and his knights, Lancelot and Guinevere, Merlin the wise man, Mordred the traitor: these and so many other Arthurian tales make a living link between the distant British past and the contemporary world. In this rich history spanning two volumes, readers can explore how the story of Arthur has developed over sixteen centuries into a global cultural phenomenon. Expert contributors trace the Arthur myth from its earliest appearances in the sixth century through its development in the European Middle Ages into bold new forms of literature and historiography, and then through its challenges and transformations in early modernity, Romanticism, Modernism, and up to the present day. All things Arthurian are explored, both in traditional categories - literature, historiography, art history, politics, and manuscript studies - and also in modern media such as cinema, television, cartoons, tourist packages, and many others.
