King Arthur: The Truth Behind the Legend

King Arthur lives! Who was he? How much of his life is based on historical fact? Where was his Kingdom? In his quest for the real King Arthur, Rodney Castelden reconstructs the kingdoms, frontiers and political centers of sixth century Britain, and recreates the royal dynasties and chronologies of the Dark Age kings. King Arthur is often written off as medieval fantasy, the dream of those yearning for an age of strong, just rulers and a contented kingdom. Those who accept his existence at all generally discard the stories that surround him. This exciting new investigation argues not only that Arthur did exist, as a Dark Age Chieftain, but that many of the romantic tales - of Merlin, Camelot, and Excalibur - are rooted in truth. In this investigation Rodney Castelden uses up-to-date archaeological and documentary evidence to recreate the history and society of Dark Age Britain and its kings. He revives the possibility that Tintagel was an Arthurian residence, and proposes a radical newtheory - that Arthur escaped alive from his final battle. A location is even suggested for perhaps the greatest mystery, the location of Arthur's grave.

Rodney Castleden has been researching landscape processes and prehistory for the last 30 years.