Mythology of the British Isles

About Mythology of the British Isles

Geoffrey Ashe's classic account of the legendary history and national mythology of Britain

Recounting stories and legends from the dark centuries of British prehistory to the ninth century AD – tales of giants and fairies, druids and saints, King Lear, King Arthur and Old King Cole – Ashe shows how they all interrelate and take on fresh significance from historical and archaelogical research.

The origins and legends of the Giants, the Ancient Britons, the Picts, the Scots and the English are all explained with chronological finesse.

Organised into a clear and simple system based on Robert Graves' classic Greek Myths, Ashe describes the myth or theme first followed by discussion or analysis. This powerful and innovative work will be of equal value to the specialist and the casual reader.

The Author

Geoffrey Ashe

Geoffrey Ashe is an internationally recognised historian, lecturer and author specialising in British history and mythology, in particular the legends of Glastonbury, where he lives. He has held visiting professorships with several American universities and has written more than twenty books, including Kings & Queens of Early Britain (Methuen 9780413777331) and Mythology of the British Isles (Methuen 9780413777324), The Discovery of King Arthur and the widely acclaimed biography Gandhi. A member of the International Arthurian Society, Geoffrey Ashe has also been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 1963.

Reviews

'Ashe tells the myths, traces their descent and looks for the historical realities behind. He does it so well that he neither deflates nor debunks. His reader will look at landscape and literature again with fresh eyes'

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