Scholars, students and readers of all ages have wondered for centuries about whether Britain was ever really ruled by an Arthur who held court at a place called Camelot. Geoffrey Ashe offers convincing proof that King Arthur not only existed, but was more like the Arthur of legend than historians have previously suspected. Drawing upon myriad sources both literary and historical, Ashe traces the legend of Arthur to its roots in the 12th-century chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth. He then illustrates that a great deal of Geoffrey’s history, which set out to depict events and persons of 5th-century Britain, was based on fact. After challenging previous assumptions about where Arthur’s court and other remnants can be found, Ashe identifies the “real” King Arthur and provides powerful evidence to support his theory. Riothamus, an actual 5th-century British monarch, is the figure whom Ashe painstakingly identifies. But his study also investigates the histories behind other Arthurian phenomena, such as the key concepts of knighthood and chivalry. Illustrated with black and white photographs.