HEROES AND HISTORY

England's heroes, through a language and literature shared, become ours even if many of them are too often reduced to foothold status in footnote descriptions. The ten legendary figures amplified by analysis here include four of the most familiar — Arthur, Alfred, Robin Hood and Robert the Bruce. In addition, there is Caratacus, Hereward, Llewellin William Wallace, Owen Glyndwr and Montrose. In this book, Miss Sutcliffe's essay style is as satisfying as her outstanding novels for this age group have proved to be. She is direct in statement, points out the recorded facts underlying the growth of legend about each hero, discusses the reliability of the sources and recaps their stories from the chronicles, ballads, etc., with flair and precision. These are not heroes diminished by research for each is allowed to retain in the speculative retellings, "...the unmistakable Hero-light on his forehead."