Malory - by Christina Hardyment (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Virtually all modern versions of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are derived from a single book: Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1469), one of the world's most renowned literary works. Yet the author, a fifteenth-century knight, has remained an enigma for centuries. Existing historical records imply that Malory was a criminal--accused of rape, ambush, rustling, and attacks on abbeys--and was imprisoned for most of his life.

Using evidence from new historical research and deductions from the only known manuscript copy of Malory's celebrated work, Christina Hardyment brilliantly resolves the contradictions about an extraordinary man and a life marked equally by great achievement and devastating disgrace. Malory is the fascinating chronicle of a loyal soldier enmeshed in the tangled politics of the Wars of the Roses. It is the story of a connoisseur of literature and exemplary writer who created a masterpiece meant to inspire princes and knights to high endeavors and noble acts.

From the Back Cover

Virtually all modern versions of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are derived from a single book: Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1469), one of the world's most renowned literary works. Yet the author, a fifteenth-century knight, has remained an enigma for centuries. Existing historical records imply that Malory was a criminal--accused of rape, ambush, rustling, and attacks on abbeys--and was imprisoned for most of his life.

Using evidence from new historical research and deductions from the only known manuscript copy of Malory's celebrated work, Christina Hardyment brilliantly resolves the contradictions about an extraordinary man and a life marked equally by great achievement and devastating disgrace. Malory is the fascinating chronicle of a loyal soldier enmeshed in the tangled politics of the Wars of the Roses. It is the story of a connoisseur of literature and exemplary writer who created a masterpiece meant to inspire princes and knights to high endeavors and noble acts.

Review Quotes

"Hardyment's excellent biography is like the Morte d'Arthur, a text for its times." - The Independent

"Hardyment...is enthralled by the 15th century and does everything she can to convey the flavor of that era." - Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Part historical detective story, part chivalric romance. . . . Consistently fascinating. " - Sunday Telegraph

"Camelot echoes marvelously through Hardyment's biography, making palpable Malory's desire for valor and honor in his own time." - Publishers Weekly

"Vivid writing... A richly and imaginatively realized account... Christina Hardyment succeeds wonderfully in bringing the fifteenth century to life." - Times Literary Supplement (London)

"[This] book is a kind of literary exploration...[Hardyment] creates a thrilling epic of her own...enjoyably readable." - Edward Pettit, Philadelphia Inquirer