Faletra has created a superb addition to Broadview's increasingly strong catalog of medieval texts for the classroom. This volume will likely be the version of Geoffrey's humble style for a new generation of students, and it has much to offer them.
Matthew Fisher, University of California, Los Angeles, from Speculum ... Read more Geoffry of Monmouth's Historia
'food and drink of poets' and provocative goad to historians
is wonderfully contextualized in this fine new translation by Michael A. Faletra. It immediately assumes canonical power as a crucial teaching text.
Bonnie Wheeler, Southern Methodist University This new translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's seminal history will be of great value to teachers of Arthurian literature. Michael A. Faletra accompanies his smooth, modern translation with an intelligent selection of supporting primary material from the Latin and Welsh traditions. The decision to include a complete translation of Geoffrey's Life of Merlin makes the book particularly attractive. The useful introduction positions Geoffrey's work in its historical, cultural, and critical context. A most welcome addition to Broadview's increasingly impressive list of texts.
Sian Echard, University of British Columbia Michael A. Faletra has provided us with a lively new translation of the most important foundational text in the Arthurian tradition, Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Faletra's work will be of service to the scholar, the teacher, and the general reader. The book's four appendices contain fresh translations by Faletra of the major sources and analogues to Geoffrey's history, including Geoffrey's own Life of Merlin. Faletra's up-to-date introduction, notes, and bibliography enable the reader to follow recent scholarly discussion and debate surrounding one of the most influential, and controversial authors of the Middle Ages.
Michael J. Curley, University of Puget Sound This book is a treasure-trove for teachers and students of the King Arthur legend. A fresh, up-to-date translation of Geoffrey's masterpiece is nice to have, but better yet is a good version of the Vita Merlini (harder to find) and Faletra's choice of excerpts from Gildas, the Historia Brittonum, some Welsh Arthur and Merlin verses, and early comments on Geoffrey's enterprise. For anyone who wants to teach the origins of the Arthur story, it is immensely useful to have all this between two covers.
Judith P. Shoaf, University of Florida Show Less