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Description of  King Arthur's Avalon: The Story of Glastonbury

Glastonbury is a place of strong magic, which one day will revive… In King Arthur’s Avalon, leading Arthurian scholar Geoffrey Ashe explores the idea that King Arthur and his wife Guinevere are buried at Glastonbury, a town which also has legendary links to Camelot and the iconic Holy Grail. Ashe suggests that the Somerset town, which is also linked to Joseph of Arimathea, was in fact Avalon, the legendary island at the heart of Arthurian legend where the sword Excalibur was forged. In this detailed historical and literary discussion of Britain’s ‘New Jerusalem’ Ashe moves from Malory to Blake to Tennyson to show that Glastonbury’s magic is at the heart of British history, as well as British legend. King Arthur’s Avalon has sold more than 100,000 copies in over sixty years and has been widely credited with reviving interest in both Glastonbury and the Arthurian legends. Praise for King Arthur’s Avalon: 'Crisp, imaginative and contemporary … a book that will madden the academic historian and delight the common reader' - Sunday Times 'It attacks all the problems which have gathered around Arthur and the Grail legend, and makes what is perhaps the first coherent and cogent narrative out of the whole tangle' - Observer Born in London in 1923, Geoffrey Ashe spent several years in Canada. He graduated from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, before continuing at Cambridge. He has written numerous books, many focused on the Arthurian legend. In 1963 he became a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and he was awarded an MBE in 2012. He is recognised as a leading cultural historian and author, and lives in Glastonbury, where he is an Honorary Freeman “in recognition of his eminent services to the place”, with his wife Patricia.