The Seeing Stone

On the brink of the thirteenth century, the young page Arthur de Caldicot is given a shard of obsidian by his knightly father's mysterious friend Merlin. The stone grants the youth visions of the saga of the legendary King Arthur, linking his life in a remote manor in the Welsh marches with events in Celtic London when the sword was drawn from the stone. The desires and anxieties which plague the young Arthur, and the political chaos accompanying the death of Richard Coeur de Lion, are mirrored by glimpses of the struggles of the King-to-be-as Uther Pendragon dies. In one hundred short, glittering chapters, Crossley-Holland, a master of folklore and historic storytelling, provides an almost encyclopedic account of social life on the medieval manor, while at the same time weaving a narrative from personal, political and mythological threads. Sixty odd characters are convincingly sketched. Food, dress, customs and religion are concisely described. Detailed end-map reconstruct the manor and its place in medieval Britain. And none of this fascinating detail detracts a jot from the force of a narrative which culminates in Arthur de Caldicot's departure for the crusades. We will meet him again in the two subsequent volumes of this trilogy. This is a tour de force of storytelling, and a treat for all ages.