Arthur - A New Life by Amy Jeffs SIGNED

To be published September 10th 2026 - secure your signed copy here.

A vivid retelling of Arthurian legend, from the critically acclaimed and
bestselling author of Storyland and Saints.

It is said that a monument now stands before the high church of Caerleon: an anvil pierced through with a sword. It is said that the sword can only be taken by the Britons' rightful king... From Sunday Times bestseller Amy Jeffs', Arthur: A New Life mines the deep, elusive seams of a story we think we all know: the legend of King Arthur.

But here he is anew: a larger-than-life warlord, a hero raised by fairies, a leader of the wild hunt, a monster-slayer, lying wounded under the ash cloud, longing to rise again. Tracing an epic story from Merlin's conception and the building of the Round Table to the abduction of Guinevere and King Arthur's ambitious quest for Empire, this Arthur is as real as any other, brought back to life from the earliest sources. Drawing out the dark and beautiful stories from the original medieval and early modern texts, Amy guides the reader from citadels through forests, into volcanoes, caves and riverbanks and beyond, even as far as Hell and the Otherworld.

Going further than merely the stories, she provides incisive commentary about each tale, emphasising the legends' crafted nature and their symbiotic relationship with the political cultures of contemporary medieval Europe. Thirty original linocut illustrations map the inky Arthurian myth-scape, darkened by time, familiar as a dream.

From Sunday Times bestseller Amy Jeffs', Arthur: A New Life mines the deep, elusive
seams of a story we think we all know: the legend of King Arthur.
But here he is anew: a larger-than-life warlord, a hero raised by fairies, a leader of the
wild hunt, a monster-slayer, lying wounded under the ash cloud, longing to rise again.
Tracing an epic story from Merlin's conception and the building of the Round Table to the
abduction of Guinevere and King Arthur's ambitious quest for Empire, this Arthur is as real
as any other, brought back to life from the earliest sources.
Drawing out the dark and beautiful stories from the original medieval and early modern
texts, Amy guides the reader from citadels through forests, into volcanoes, caves and
riverbanks and beyond, even as far as Hell and the Otherworld. Going further than merely
the stories, she provides incisive commentary about each tale, emphasising the legends'
crafted nature and their symbiotic relationship with the political cultures of contemporary
medieval Europe.

Thirty original linocut illustrations map the inky Arthurian myth-scape,
darkened by time, familiar as a dream.

Amy Jeffs has achieved widespread critical acclaim as a marvellous storyteller and
medieval historian on the lives of medieval legends. Her first book was a Sunday Times
Bestseller and a Waterstones Book of the Year Shortlistee.
The book will include around 30 beautiful illustrations by Amy herself.
For readers of Robert MacFarlane, Katherine Rundell and Madeline Miller.

Amy Jeffs is a Somerset-based author and artist, she has a PhD in Art History from
C orpus C hristi C ollege, C ambridge, and specialises in medieval art and culture. Jeffs' first book, Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain, was a Sunday Times bestseller, shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year and named a Times Historical Fiction Book of the Year.
Her second book, Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain, explores an old idea of the
wilderness through medieval stories of outcasts, monsters and the natural world. The
audiobook, illustrated with song, was named audiobook of the week by the Times and the
Guardian. Arthur is her fifth book.