King Arthur: Medieval British Literature and Modern Critical Tradition is a book that revolutionizes our understanding of Britain's history and early literature. It begins with a compelling demonstration of 'King' Arthur as no figure of legend, but a flesh-and-blood warrior of the sixth century. Arguments for this are followed by chapters on Arthur in the literatures of medieval Britain as perceived by scholars of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. They include chapters on the Welsh Mabinogion, Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain, Layamon's Brut, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the alliterative Morte Arthure, and Sir Thomas Malory's prose Morte Darthure. Solving problems which have baffled scholars for centuries, this book fundamentally alters our view of Britain's past.