About the Author

Peter Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, critic, and biographer.

Sir Thomas Malory was a knight and estate owner in the mid 15th century, who spent many years in prison for political crimes as well as robbery. He wrote Le Morte D'Arthur, the first great English prose epic, while imprisoned in Newgate. The epic was published in 1485 by William Caxton, the first English printer. Malory is believed to have died in 1471.

Reviews

“In this ingenious decanting of an old wine into a new bottle, [Peter Ackroyd] has taken a glorious part of our cultural heritage and made it more accessible to the readers of the 21st century.” — The Sunday Telegraph


“Peter Ackroyd's lightly trimmed and streamlined Le Morte d'Arthur makes it eminently readable.” — Sunday Times


“The majesty of Malory's book survives too, not least in the final chapters telling of the internal conflicts that destroy the Round Table, the passion of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the destiny that Arthur has had coming to him for a long time: death in battle. This, as retold by Peter Ackroyd, remains a bizarre but thrilling piece of writing.” — The Wall Street Journal