Larger	The Book of Merlyn (Once and Future King, Bk 4) Author: T. H. White
	Book Information Publisher: University of Texas Press Book Type: Paperback Rating: 9 ISBN-13: 9780292707696 - ISBN-10: 029270769X Publication Date: 1988 Pages: 137

This maginificent fantasy of the last days of King Arthur, his faithful magician and his animal teachers, completes the tragedy and romance of THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING.

The tale begins with an aged and weary King Arthur sitting alone in his tent at Salisbury, awaiting his final, fatal battle with his batsard son, Mordred. His childhood mentor, Merlyn, returns to give Arthur one last lesson in life, whisking him away to the badger's sett to meet again witht eh Animal Council, who long befre had helped the young Wart prepare for his royal role.

The deliberations of the Animal Council center on ways to abolish war, a question of intense personal interest to White, who was agonizing over whether to go to war against Nazi Germany as he wrote The Book Of Merlyn. More self-revealing than any other of White's books, Merlyn show White's mind at work, venting his fury against the human race who make war and glorify it.

Even in the addressing the profound issues of war and peace, The Book of Merlyn retains the life and sparkle for which White is known. The story moves with the impetus of poetry, farce, invention, and iconoclasm which marks his earlier work, and Trevor Stubley's illustratios capture this spirit magnificently. The tale brings Arhtur full circle, an ending, White wrote, that "will turn my completed epic into a perfect fruit, 'rounded off and bright and done.'"

The Book of Merlyn spent 26 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list following its publication in 1977. Even in addressing the profound issues of war and peace, The Book of Merlyn retains the life and sparkle for which White is known.

"This is the true last chapter of The Once and Future King and should have its place there." --Sylvia Townsend Warner

"This mythic political fable for our time wasn't published when it was written because the world wasn't ready for it." --Peter Green

". . . a personal as well as historical story that crisscrosses the centuries on the question of war and peace." --New York Times

Submitted for publication in 1941 but set aside, the script for this book was only re-discovered in the archives of the University of Texas in 1975. Contains a prologue by Sylvia Townsend Warner.