Christina Hardyment’s Malory: The Knight Who Became King Arthur’s Chronicler, though flawed in some aspects, was a brilliantly written historical narrative that was compelling in many ways.

From the outset I was troubled by the book being larded with endless “could have beens,” “might have beens, “let us imagines,” etc.  Point in fact, which Malory is the real author of the seminal work?  Moreover, there were far too many assumptions as to just where Malory was or what he was doing at any given moment.  Also, I found several passages most contradictory.  Hoping that the above issues would be resolved as the end of the book drew near, they weren’t.

In addition, Ms. Hardyment describes Malory’s funeral and wake as “probably” simple, yet only a few paragraphs later you speak of his wealth.  Would a man of wealth have a simple funeral?

And lastly, the reference to Arthur as an English king is difficult to square with many historians’ belief that he was indeed Scottish.  That said, the narrative was engaging and there was many a time when I could seemingly feel and smell what it must have like to live in the 15^th century Britain .

In the final analysis, I recommended the book and am the richer for having read it!