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Arthur: A New Life
Not yet published
Expected 10 Sep 26
It is said that a monument now stands before the high church of an anvil pierced through with a sword. It is said that the sword can only be taken by the Briton's rightful king...
From Sunday Times bestseller Amy Jeffs', A New Life mines the deep, elusive seams of a story we think we all the legend of King Arthur.
But here he is a larger-than-life warlord, a hero raised by fairies, a leader of the wild hunt, a monster-slayer, lying wounded under the ash cloud, longing to rise again.
Tracing an epic story from Merlin's conception and the building of the Round Table to the abduction of Guinevere and King Arthur's ambitious quest for Empire, this Arthur is as real as any other, brought back to life from the earliest sources.
Drawing out the dark and beautiful stories from the original medieval and early-modern texts, Amy guides the reader from citadels through forests, into volcanoes, caves and riverbanks and beyond, even as far as Hell and the Otherworld. Going further than merely the stories, she provides incisive commentary about each tale, emphasising the legends' crafted nature and their symbiotic relationship with the political cultures of contemporary medieval Europe.
Thirty original linocut illustrations map the inky Arthurian myth-scape, darkened by time, familiar as a dream.
From Sunday Times bestseller Amy Jeffs', A New Life mines the deep, elusive seams of a story we think we all the legend of King Arthur.
But here he is a larger-than-life warlord, a hero raised by fairies, a leader of the wild hunt, a monster-slayer, lying wounded under the ash cloud, longing to rise again.
Tracing an epic story from Merlin's conception and the building of the Round Table to the abduction of Guinevere and King Arthur's ambitious quest for Empire, this Arthur is as real as any other, brought back to life from the earliest sources.
Drawing out the dark and beautiful stories from the original medieval and early-modern texts, Amy guides the reader from citadels through forests, into volcanoes, caves and riverbanks and beyond, even as far as Hell and the Otherworld. Going further than merely the stories, she provides incisive commentary about each tale, emphasising the legends' crafted nature and their symbiotic relationship with the political cultures of contemporary medieval Europe.
Thirty original linocut illustrations map the inky Arthurian myth-scape, darkened by time, familiar as a dream.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 10, 2026
18 people want to read
About the author
Amy Jeffs
6 books135 followersAmy Jeffs is an art historian specialising in the Middle Ages. In 2019, she gained a PhD in Art History from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having studied for earlier degrees at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the University of Cambridge. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
During her PhD Amy co-convened a project researching medieval badges and pilgrim souvenirs at the British Museum. She then worked in the British Library's department of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern manuscripts.
Her writing is often accompanied by her own linocut and wood-engraved prints.
Amy is a regular contributor to Country Life Magazine.
During her PhD Amy co-convened a project researching medieval badges and pilgrim souvenirs at the British Museum. She then worked in the British Library's department of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern manuscripts.
Her writing is often accompanied by her own linocut and wood-engraved prints.
Amy is a regular contributor to Country Life Magazine.
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