The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Quartet of novels by T.H. White, published in a single volume in 1958. The quartet comprises The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness--first published as The Witch in the Wood (1939)--The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (published in the composite volume, 1958). The series is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, from Arthur's birth to the end of his reign, and is based largely on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur. After White's death, a conclusion to The Once and Future King was found among his papers; it was published in 1977 as The Book of Merlyn.
Once and Future King FROM THE PUBLISHER
The whole world knows and loves this book. It is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlin and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged.
FROM THE CRITICS
Gale Research
T. H. White first gained popularity for his nonfiction works about the countryside of the United Kingdom, but he is best known today for his fantastic fiction. In his tetralogy The Once and Future King--called by Lin Carter in Imaginary Worlds "one of the most brilliant fantasy novels in literature"--he made the legends of King Arthur accessible for the twentieth century.
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