The King Who Was And Will Be: World of King Arthur and His Knights - Tapa dura

A celebration in words and pictures of the world of King Arthur. All the romance of Camelot in this glorious book, where legend, fact and conjecture blend together in a text that sparkles with colour and wit. It's theme is how the Arthurian legend fascinated and inspired all Europe in the middle Ages. Kevin Crossley Holland writes of Knights and ladies, tournaments and troubadours, castles and quests and the rituals of courtly love. He is entertainingly informative about small boys training to be knights, how difficult it was to put armour on, how you ate and dressed and chose gifts for your lady. And he introduces us to the great characters of the Arthurian world, such as Lancelot and Guinevere, Merlin, Morgan le Fay and of course, the mysterious King Arthur himself.

Kevin Crossley-Holland won the Carnegie Medal in 1985 for Storm. His many notable books for adults and children include poetry, classic retellings and anthologies. He has written and presented many BBC radio programmes and is a frequent speaker at schools and libraries. For some years he held a university post in Minnesota. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. The Seeing Stone won the prestigious Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for 2001 and At The Crossing-Places on a Silver award at the 2001 SWPA Spoken Word Awards. Gatty's Tale was shortlisted for the 2008 Carnegie Medal.

Peter Malone has illustrated a number of picture books for Orion. He was commissioned by the Royal Mail for a set of Christmas stamps. He lives in Bath with his wife and two daughters.