** spoiler alert ** A historical telling of the events thought to lead up to the Myth of Arthur. It's a bit long for Young Adult book but appropriate for good readers. Set in the 5th century, the book begins with Rome's withdrawal from Britain and ends with the creation of the boundaries that essentially cut England in half along a diagonal by the 9th century (see map below), splitting it between the local Celtic/Roman/English population on south/west side and the Viking/Saxon invaders in the north/east. Follows about 20 years in the life of a fictitious Roman soldier who realizes his allegiance is with Britain rather than Rome and chooses to stay behind when Rome withdraws in order to fight to keep his country free of the Saxons/Vikings invasion. He ultimately becomes right hand man to Ambrosius (see below), otherwise known in mythology as the uncle??? -- I admit confusion-- of Arthur (called by the roman name, Artos, in this book). We first meet Arthur/Artus as a young child and watch him grow up into a young charismatic leader of Ambrosius's cavalry, but he is a side character.

British children will have no difficulty with the book, but it would help American children a lot if they were given a brief introduction to the historical period and could see maps of the geography described. The book starts out a little slow, but once the Roman's withdraw the pace really picks up and it becomes a page turner with well developed realistic and internally conflicted characters and multiple threads that all come together nicely at the books end. Both Boys and Girls should enjoy this book. It promotes values like honor, hard work, and accountability, while placing the main character into realistic psychological situations.


http://historymedren.about.com/librar...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosiu...