Berger offers his own take on the legends of King Arthur, from the heroic monarch's inauspicious conception, to his childhood in bucolic Wales, his rise to the throne, his discovery of the great sword Excalibur, his establishment of the Knights of the Round Table, his long and honorable reign, and his heroic death in battle against the evil Mordred, his bastard son.

The author emphasizes the glory and idealism of Arthur's court at Camelot, but the ultimate futility of any attempt to ignore human nature and sinfulness.

For instance, the wizard Merlin makes occasional anachronistic references to such things as aircraft, viruses and nuclear power, but always couched in period-appropriate terms, reminiscent of T.H.

Berger gives considerable attention to the adulterous relationships between Guinevere and Lancelot and between Tristan and Isolde, and even offers a somewhat sympathetic portrait of the villainous Mordred.

In both positive and negative assessments of the book, reviewers noted the changes to the Arthurian legend made by the author, evidently to enhance the story's "appeal in contemporary American society.