Excellent introduction to an assortment of legendary heroes, many drawn from near-myth like Arthur and Robin Hood, others from history like Vlad the Impaler and William Wallace, but all the figures are the stuff of tales.

The chapters cover 10 legendary warriors: Arthur, Vlad, Achilles, Beowulf, Robin Hood, Macbeth, Hiawatha, Roland, Cuchulain, and Wallace.

Each is examined according to the legend, then Mersey examines the history, and finally he deals with how subject and his contemporaries would have fought.

Arthur may have been a northern England post-Roman commander, as in the Clive Owens film, Robin Hood, whose legend was shifted to the southwest when the Britons themselves lost their northern lands and were confined to Wales, a theory I had not heard before.

Vlad, as is well-known, was a product of a time of intrigue and incredible violence, not to mention an unending threat from the Ottoman Empire that almost reached his capital, until the sultan’s soldiers encountered thousands of impaled countrymen in a hellish five-acre area they had to traverse. There is evidence Achilles and, of course, Troy, may have been real and so, perhaps, was the Viking Beowulf, and there’s scanty but tantalizing evidence about that of Robin Hood.

Macbeth was real, less adventurous and more competent militarily than his predecessor, Duncan, and a more popular king. He was, alas, the victim of Shakespeare’s need to play up to an English monarch who backed Macbeth’s enemies.

Hiawatha was an Iroquois, notwithstanding Longfellow’s upper Midwest setting, and was uniquely, in this collection, noted for his peaceful accomplishment, that of uniting the warrior tribes that made up the Iroquois Confederation.

Like Arthur, there is some evidence that Roland existed as a king in Charlemagne’s empire. Cuchulain could have been inspired by Ireland’s once greatest warrior and, of course, William Wallace did exist, elevated from a minor Scottish figure by Mel Gibson’s movie, Braveheart. In the process, of course, details were changed and the timeline shifted somewhat for different characters because Hollywood history is very fluid, to say the least.

Mersey did an excellent job in producing this book. It acquainted me with several figures I did not know about before. He recognizes his choices are heavily weighted towards Europeans, but defends himself by saying his selections fits the notions of chivalry that he used to guide his writing.

Worth getting.