Guinevere and Arthur. Lancelot and Merlin and Morgan Le Fay -- all the names of myth are given flesh and blood in this Del Rey Discovery of the Year book!

    Now, combined into a single convenient volume, the New, Expanded Edition of "The Romance of Arthur" covers nearly a thousand years of translated texts in a broad range of genres, from the early chronicles and Welsh verse through Sir Thomas Malory. A new section on lyrics has been added. The translations from Latin, French, German, Spanish, Welsh, Middle English, and Italian were freshly done for the original anthologies and have now been updated. As before, complete text are presented whenever possible.

    Curley sets out to instruct the nonspecialist in the events of Geoffrey's career, the techniques governing his three known works - the History, The Prophecies of Merlin, and The Life of Merlin-, and Geoffrey's enduring appeal as commentator on the human condition. Geoffrey's characters "are driven by passion, greed, rivalry, a thirst for glory and adventure, a restless spirit, and a consciousness of their origins," Curley asserts in his preface; "Above all, they are imbued with a sense of their own autonomy." In the five chapters that follow, Curley provides cogent biographical and background information, treats each of Geoffrey's works, and addresses the many issues scholars have raised about the writer. Throughout, Curley guides readers gracefully through complex, highly influential works of not just the Middle Ages but indeed Western civilization, amply demonstrating the power of Geoffrey's contribution to British historiography and cultural myth.

    Drawing on archaeological and other sources, the author of this study argues that the political structures persevered to become those of the Middle Ages.

    The former, a late fifteenth century romance, tells of the adventures of Lancelot, bearing many similarities to the Vulgate Prose Lancelot, but also includes a lengthy section of political advice. The latter is an uncourtly, parodic poem about the knight Tristrem. With its introductions, glosses, notes, and glossary, this accessible edition enables students to enrich their sense of the texture of treatments of the vast body of legends that grew around the court of Arthur.