The Once and Future King

Front Cover
Ace Books, 1987 - FICTION - 639 pages
A revised omnibus edition of the author's retelling of Arthurian legends. The first three sections of this book were originally published separately: The Sword in the Stone (1939), The Witch in the Wood (1939; here called "The Queen of Air and Darkness"), The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and the previously unpublished section, "The Candle in the Wind." The Book of Merlyn, written in 1941, was originally intended as the fifth and final book of the saga. It was first published by the University of Texas Press in 1977 and reissued by Berkley, 1978. It is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlin and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged.

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About the author (1987)

Terence Hanbury White was born on May 29, 1906 in Bombay, India. He attended Cheltenham College, Gloucestershire, and Queen's College, Cambridge. The success of his autobiography, England Have My Bones, allowed him to leave teaching after six years and devote his time to writing. Although he wrote a wide array of novels and some poetry, he is best known for The Once and Future King, his four-volume retelling of the legend of King Arthur, which became the basis for both the musical, Camelot, and the Disney film, The Sword in the Stone. White died on January 17, 1964, while returning home from a lecture tour in America.

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