T.H. White Books In Order

Collections In Publication Order

A Joy Proposed (1980)
The Maharajah & Other Stories (1981)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

England Have My Bones (1936)
The Age of Scandal (1950)
The Goshawk (1951)
The Scandalmonger (1952)
The Godstone and the Blackymor (1959)
America at Last (1965)
The White/Garnett Letters (With: David Garnett) (1968)
Letters to a Friend (1982)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

The Book of Beasts (1125)
Darkness at Pemberley (1932)
First Lesson (1932)
Farewell Victoria (1933)
Earth Stopped (1934)
Gone to Ground (1935)
Mistress Masham’s Repose (1946)
The Elephant and the Kangaroo (1947)
The Master (1957)
They Winter Abroad (1969)

The Once and Future King Books In Publication Order

The Sword in the Stone (1938)
The Witch in the Wood (1939)
The Ill-Made Knight (1940)
The Candle in the Wind (1940)
The Book of Merlyn (1977)

Anthologies In Publication Order

Unicorns! (1982)

Collections Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

The Once and Future King Book Covers

Anthologies Book Covers

Unicorns!
(1982)

T.H. White Books Overview

The Goshawk

What is it that binds human beings to other animals? T. H. White, the author of The Once and Future King and Mistress Masham’s Repose, was a young writer who found himself rifling through old handbooks of falconry. A particular sentence the bird reverted to a feral state seized his imagination, and, White later wrote, A longing came to my mind that I should be able to do this myself. The word feral has a kind of magical potency which allied itself to two other words, ferocious and free. Immediately, White wrote to Germany to acquire a young goshawk. Gos, as White named the bird, was ferocious and Gos was free, and White had no idea how to break him in beyond the ancient and, though he did not know it, long superseded practice of depriving him of sleep, which meant that he, White, also went without rest. Slowly man and bird entered a state of delirium and intoxication, of attraction and repulsion that looks very much like love. White kept a daybook describing his volatile relationship with Gos at once a tale of obsession, a comedy of errors, and a hymn to the hawk. It was this that became The Goshawk, one of modern literature s most memorable and surprising encounters with the wilderness as it exists both within us and without.

The Book of Beasts

A preeminent medievalist presents a wonderful catalog of real and fanciful beasts, including the manticore, griffin, phoenix, amphivius, jaculus, and many other exotic animals. White’s witty, erudite commentary on scientific and historical aspects enhances this survey of proto zoology on which science is based and pre scientific perceptions of the earth’s creatures. 128 black and white illustrations.

Mistress Masham’s Repose

Mistress Masham’s Repose, by the author of the much adored book for children The Once and Future King, tells the story of ten year old Maria, orphaned mistress of Malplaquet, who discovers the secret of her deteriorating estate. On a deserted island at its far corner, in the temple nicknamed Mistress Masham’s Repose, live an entire community of people ‘The People,’ as they call themselves all only inches tall. With the help of her only friend, the absurdly erudite Professor, Maria soon learns that this settlement is no less than the kingdom of Lilliput first seen in Gulliver’s Travels in exile. Safely hidden for centuries, the Lilliputians are immediately endangered by Maria’s well meaning but clumsy attempts to improve their lot, but their situation grows truly ominous when they are discovered by Maria’s greedy guardians, who look at The People and see only the potential for profit.

The Sword in the Stone

The Sword And The Stone recreates, against the background of magnificent pageantry and dark magic that was medieval England, the education and training of young King Arthur, who was to become the greatest of Britain’s legendary rulers. Growing up in a colorful world peopled by knights in armor and fair damsels, foul monsters and evil witches, young Arthur slowly learns the code of being a gentleman. Under the wise guidance of Merlin, the all powerful magician for whom life progresses backwards, the king to be is trained in the gusty pursuits of falconry, jousting, hunting and sword play. He is even transformed by his remarkable old tutor into various animals, so that he may experience life from all points of view. In every conceivable and exciting way he is readied for the day when he, and he alone of all Englishmen, is destined to draw forth the marvelous sword from the magic stone and become the rightful King of’ England.

The Ill-Made Knight

‘The Ill Made Knight’ is the third book in the epic novel The Once and Future King, by T. H. White. It was first published in 1940, but is usually found today only in collected editions of all four books of the novel. Much of The Ill Made Knight takes place in the fabled Camelot, full of blue castle tops, red banners and white castle bricks. Against this happy backdrop, White constructs a tragedy. The Ill Made Knight is based around the adventures, perils and mistakes of Sir Lancelot. Lancelot, despite being the bravest of the knights, is ugly, and ape like, so that he calls himself the Chevalier mal fet ‘The Ill Made Knight’. As a child, Lancelot adored King Arthur and spent his entire childhood training to be a knight of the round table. When he arrives and becomes one of Arthur’s knights, he also becomes the king’s close friend. This causes some tension, as he dislikes Arthur’s new wife Guinevere. In order to please her husband, Guinevere tries to befriend Lancelot and the two eventually fall in love. T.H. White’s version of the tale elaborates greatly on the passionate love of Lancelot and Guinevere. Suspense is provided by the tension between Lancelot’s friendship for King Arthur and his love for and affair with the queen. This affair leads inevitably to the breaking of the Round Table and sets up the tragedy that is to follow in the concluding book of the tetralogy The Candle in the Wind.

The Candle in the Wind

One of the most inventive and charming retellings of the Arthurian legend, this is the final part of The Once and Future King. In these last two books, the ageing king faces the greatest challenge of his reign, when his own son threatens to overthrow him and destroy everything he has worked for. In The Book of Merlyn, Arthurs tutor Merlyn reappears, and the ancient magician teaches him that, even in the face of apparent ruin, there is still hope.

The Book of Merlyn

‘…
a personal as well as historical story that crisscrosses the centuries on the question of war and peace.’ New York Times This magical account of King Arthur’s last night on earth spent weeks on the New York Times best seller list following its publication in 1977. Even in addressing the profound issues of war and peace, The Book of Merlyn retains the life and sparkle for which White is known. The tale brings Arthur full circle, an ending, White wrote, that ‘will turn my completed epic into a perfect fruit, ’rounded off and bright and done.”