Camelot And The Vision Of Albion

When archaeologists dug up the hill of Cadbury in Somerset, the reputed site of King Arthur's Camelot, thousands of visitors came to watch. They never saw anything resembling the Camelot of romance. Yet they kept coming, year after year.Why does Arthur fascinate? In this book, the secretary of the Cadbury project (himself an authority on the legend) looks for an answer. Drawing on varied researches, and on the insight embodied in William Blake's symbol of the shadowy 'Giant Albion' behind Arthur, he plunges into the psychological depths that underlie the tale of the enchanted King, his city Camelot, his mysterious departure to Avalon, his promised return.The enquiry starts from the solid facts of Cadbury. But it opens vistas on a strange world of gods and mortals and immemorial yearnings. The same universal dream that created the legendary Arthur is shown reappearing through many centuries, inspiring many thinkers: Blake himself; Virgil, Confucius, Rousseau, Gandhi; even such supposed rationalists as Robert Owen and Lenin.All the paths converge on a central problem of the human condition, which, the author suggests, must be solved if mankind is to achieve a workable humanist philosophy. It turns out that Arthur remains startlingly relevant: that the prophecy of his return has a serious meaning.

The author provides a full account of Arthurian radio drama, which evolved from D.G. Bridson's patriotic pre-war 'King Arthur', via fascinations with the Holy Grail and the Lady of Shalott, to its flowering in the 1990s with Kevin Crossley-Holland's 'Arthur's Knight'.

A definitive, factual, A–Z reference guide offering a global perspective on the role of prophecy in world history, religion, folklore, and literature. From at least 1200 B.C. and probably long before, prophets have attempted to see into the future. Most—from ancient oracles to modern astrologers, from doomsday sects to telephone psychics—have been wrong the majority of the time, says British researcher Geoffrey Ashe. True foreknowledge is rare, but those rare occurrences are impressive. In this fascinating reference work, the first to encompass the entire 3,000 year span of recorded prophecy, Ashe examines the predictions of both good prophets and bad, including seers like Jacques Cazotte, who forecast the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and Morgan Robertson, who described the Titanic disaster 14 years before it happened. He refutes many of the far-fetched claims of Nostradamus, and highlights those that foreshadow events after his lifetime. He also examines failed prophecies that have been influential, including the many end-of-the-world forecasts, along with the surprisingly accurate visions of some science-fiction authors.

Who was King Arthur? How did the story originate? Through careful research of the many primary documents, a picture of the true Arthur can in fact be set down. He reached power shortly after the Romans evacuated Britain at the end of the fifth century and died at the Battle of Camlann. He became king at 15 under the name of Ambrosius Aurelianus and fought against the Saxons on the mainland as Riothamus, thus explaining the regeneration motif so closely tied to the mythical Arthur. This study reveals that the integrity and ideals central to Arthurian myth were very much a part of the real Arthur.

The stanzas beginning, 'And did those feet' are among the most famous works written by the Romantic poet and artist, William Blake. Set to music by Hubert Parry in 1916 and renamed, 'Jerusalem', this hymn has become an emblem of Englishness in the past century, and is regularly invoked at sporting events, public and private ceremonies, and, of course, as part of Last Night of the Proms. Yet when Blake first engraved his lines in his epic work, Milton a Poem, he had been tried for sedition. Likewise, although Parry was commissioned to compose his music as part of the war effort by the organization Fight for Right, he soon removed permission for that group to perform his hymn and instead gave the copyright to the women's suffrage movement. 'Jerusalem', then, is a much more contested vision of England's green and pleasant land than is often assumed. This book traces the history of the poem and the music from Blake's original verses, written in Felpham, via the turmoil of the First and Second World Wars, its recording history in the late twentieth century, and its use in political controversies such as the 2016 Brexit vote. An anthem for both the left and the right, Blake's own vision of what it meant to build Jerusalem in England is both strange and familiar to many who invoke it. As such, this book explores the deep complexities of what Englishness means into the twenty-first century.

A “fascinating [and] unique exploration” of the mythological founder of Britain, divine ancestor of King Arthur, and symbol of British identity (Your Family History). Believed to be a great-great-great grandson of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, Brutus of Troy led a voyage from Greece to Britain. Landing at Totnes in Devon, it is said that Brutus overthrew the giants who lived there, laid the foundations of Oxford University and London, and sired a line of kings that includes King Arthur and the ancestors of the present Royal Family. Genealogist Anthony Adolph traces the legend of Brutus of Troy from the Roman times onwards, looking at his popularity, his mentions in fiction, and his place in mythology of some of London’s landmarks. Brutus’ story played a crucial role in royal propaganda and foreign policy. His tale also inspired poets and playwrights including Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Wordworth, Dickens, and Blake. Brutus of Troy delves into how the myth shaped Britain’s identity and gave the nation a place in Classical mythologies and the Bible.

Dennis Potter (1935-94) was Britain’s leading television dramatist for almost thirty years and remains an inspiration to today’s programme makers as a result of such ground-breaking work as Pennies from Heaven, Blue Remembered Hills and The Singing Detective. But he also engaged with his audience through reviews, journalism, interviews, broadcasts and speeches. The Art of Invective, the first collection of its kind, brings together some of his finest non-fiction work. Published to mark 80 years since Potter’s birth, this book includes his merciless television columns, penetrating literary criticism and angry writings on class and politics, as well as his sketches for Sixties satire shows including That Was the Week That Was. From Frost-Nixon to Coronation Street, David Hare to Doctor Who, Orwell to Emu, this collection shows Potter’s distinctive voice at its entertaining, thought-provoking and uncompromising best.