Cornwell is a master of writing compelling historical fiction. I've read many of Cornwell's Sharpe novels, depicting the Napoleonic wars. It was on this basis that I picked up this book many years ago. An alternate Athurian tale, much more gritty and real.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Derfel Cadarn, one of Arthur's captains. Now an old man, he writes his version of history: The story of the Warlord Arthur. This is not T. H. White's Arthur, nor Malory's. There is no "Sword in the Stone", "Lady of the Lake", or "Quest for the Holy Grail". Cornwell's Arthur is the bastard son of Uther Pendragon. We see him as a real man who has to make hard decisions, which are sometimes fatally wrong.

Cornwell has thought through his Britain. Christianity is not all pervading. Merlin is a druid. Saxons are a very real threat. He realises that chivalry was more recent concept. The "knights" aren't running around with heavy armour and pages. They fight with shield walls, and kill fast, in any way they can.

This is our generation's Arthurian Legend.