King Arthur is the favourite of romantics and the bane of critical historians. There will never be absolute proof of his existence, for our main sources are more or less deliberate fictions, but there is enough to suggest for most a hidden truth and quite enough to inspire, from the Dark Ages to the present day.

Over the centuries the story of Arthur has been embellished and re-told, from medieval romances to Pre-Raphaelite painters to twentieth-century Hollywood. And yet the kernel of the story of a remarkable leader who inspired a devoted following has remained constant through the ages. But who was Arthur? Was he man or myth?

This handy, pocket-sized, hardback biography answers these questions and provides the ideal introduction in words and pictures to Arthur, his life and the places where his remarkable spirit can perhaps be felt even today.

Robert Dunning was for nearly forty years the official historian of the county of Somerset and is the author of numerous books about the county and its religious buildings. King Arthur caught his imagination as a child; as an historian his particular interest is in the use others have made of ancient sources for the king’s existence and his life.

Imprint PiXZ Books. ISBN 978 1 906887 98 8, hardback, 110x155mm, 64 pages. Published June 2010.