‘The Once and Future King’ anthology, including its lost and found final book ‘The Book

of Merlyn’ is the true definition of what I personally believe classic literature should be.
Being one of the greatest re-tellings of the story of Camelot ever witnessed as well as
quite possibly one of the greatest philosophical anti-war studies of all time, it is an
injustice to readers that these works are not household names in the same sense as other
‘classics’ such as ‘Jane Eyre’ or ‘Lord of the Flies’ seem to be. If you like the classics but
wish they were more gripping, enjoy game of thrones but wish to deal less vulgarity for
the sake of vulgarity, or simply want to widen your view on society as a whole than this
is beyond a shadow of a doubt a book you should look into reading yourself.



For the longest time I have been utterly enamored with the legends and mythos
surrounding the great- and most likely fictitious- King Arthur. However it was only until
a faithful day in a second hand book store did I find a real buried treasure underneath a
pile of two dollar self publications: a tattered copy of ‘The Once and Future King,’ a book
written by the man who was soon to become my personal favorite author: T.H.White. He
accomplished what I had been searching for a; fiction depicting the Camelot myth which
successfully adapted the accumulative folklore surrounding the tale. It even went beyond
my original hopes for a well crafted adaption of the legend and proved itself to be a
stunning character study into the mentality of a wartime author as well. T.H.White’s fear,
annoyance, and thoughts as he watches the second World War II approach his home
country of England, as the king he wrote about experienced much of the same with the
Thrasher party, are all laid bear on the pages to read and a window is opened to the
politics that they both adopted to face such situations.



With the first book published in 1938, has series features an altogether count of 637 small
print pages for the main anthology and 137 for the final- often excluded- book ‘The Book
of Merlyn’ the collection is a bit of a far-cry from any new, brief, young adult novel, and
with the unique and often somewhat disorganized writing style of T.H.White; this master
work is certainly something more suited for those looking to analyze a book’s characters,
interpret it’s imagery, enjoy political elements in fantasy, and wish to indulge in a slower
pace over dynamic action or a rapidly paced plot.



The stories of each book tell an overarching plot about the lives and events that
surrounded a certain man, from his boyhood as a child named Wart to his death as the
great King Arthur. This series makes it clear from the start that the protagonist will not
live. In fact the books were originally planned to be an analysis on the conspicuously
named ‘Le’ Morte De Arthur’ or ‘The Death of Arthur’ by Sir. Mallory.















The books begin as an age of peace rises with a young Arthur, still known simply as Wart,
who ascends to rule over ancient England- or ‘Avalon’. Each book then covers a new
chapter in the story of the people who shaped the future of their land with Arthur, for
better or for worse, with intent or ignorance. And each of these said ‘chapters’ brings a
new tone towards the world it presents as the views of the author have matured and
changed with time; from the fantastical stories of Merlyn’s tutelage of a young Wart, to
the horrors of Morgause, to the ill-fate of Lancelot, to Guinevere’s crisis, to the dangerous
battle with the Thrasher party- a thinly veiled metaphor for Nazis, and lastly to the
somber yet argumentative final meeting of the council of animals.


Every character feels real and flawed in ways that seem more natural than anything I
have read; because they were written by a man who was critically indifferent to the
people around him, a man who spent a good portion of his life in secluded cottage
reading and watching the white geese make their migrations- a symbol that is spread far
in his body of works- as he pondered the human nature in relation to such. All are made
useful, all are proven wrong, all find different ways to break and then heal, or
alternatively remain broken.



A true feat of literature, each person should at least read the final book of the anthology;
‘The Book of Merlyn’ in order to truly appreciate the workings of their world if they do
not posses the time to indulge their minds with the full series as its story in more
discussion based and stands on its own for the most part, even if reading it by itself takes
away some of the emotional weight in certain scenes.