Part of Series
Beginning with The Skystone, the first in his riveting Camulod Chronciles, Jack Whyte has embarked on an ambitious and remarkable re-telling of the Arthurian cycle, giving us a fresh and compelling take on a story that has been beloved for centuries. The Eagle brings us at last to the heart of the tale, the creation of fabled Camelot and the love story that enshrined its glory. Whyte takes us into the minds and lives of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, three astonishing but fallible people who were bound together by honor, loyalty, and love. Three who created the glory that was Britain's shining dream…and, some say, caused its downfall. The Gaulish nobleman Clothar—known in our time as Lancelot—is drawn to the young High King's court by tales of honor and nobility, where he meets a man whose love of law matches his own. More, he finds in Arthur a life-long friend whose dream of uniting the people of Britain in peace Clothar embraces. And Clothar meets Arthur's queen, a wondrous beauty whose passion and ideals match her husband's. Together they work to bring Arthur's dream to life. But dark forces rise in opposition to Arthur's plans for creating this noble island nation and it is hard to tell friend from foe in the swirling chaos that ensues. Many tales have been told of the dream that shined and died. This one will astonish even the most jaded.
Author
Jack Whyte is an author and writer born and raised in Scotland, but has been living in western Canada since 1967, and in Kelowna, British Columbia, since 1996. Whyte's major work to date is the A Dream of Eagles series (as it is titled in Canada, but known as The Camulod Chronicles in the United States and elsewhere). This series of historical novels presents the tale of King Arthur set against the backdrop of Roman Britain. This retelling of the popular legend eschews the use of magic (as in T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone) to explain Arthur’s ascent to power and instead relies on the historical condition (with some artistic license) of post-Roman Britain to support the theory that Arthur was meant to counter the anarchy left by the Roman departure from Britain in 410 AD and the subsequent colonization and invasion of Britain by various peoples from Northwestern Europe, including the Saxons, Jutes, Franks, and Angles). Whyte incorporates both traditional Arthurian names, places and events (albeit in gaelic or Latin form) as well as the names of various historical figures that have been suggested as being the possible basis for the original King Arthur legend. The tacit implication is that Whyte's version of history is the true story that has become distorted over time to become the legend and stories of magic that we know today. Jack Whyte served as the official bard of The Calgary Highlanders and performed several tracks of poetry and song on the 1990 recording by the Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders entitled Eighty Years of Glory: The Regimental Pipes, Drums and Bard of The Calgary Highlanders.
