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The King Must Die
by Mary Renault
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good Condition/Poor
- Seller
-
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd, London, 1958. First Edition. Hardcover (Original Blue Cloth). Very Good Condition/Poor. Theseus, the boy-king of Eleuisis, is ritually preordained to die after one year of marriage to the sacred Queen, but he defies the Gods' decree and claims his inheritance - the throne of Athens. His friends are the young men and maidens, slaves of the Gods, chosen for death in the Bull Dance. His fabled enemy is the monstrous, half-man, half-bull, Minotaur, devourer of sacrificial human flesh. In her classic re-creation of a myth so powerful that its impact has survived down the centuries, Mary Renault has brought to life the world of ancient Greece. For here is the true Atlantis legend, with its culmination in the terrible, fateful destruction of the great Labyrinth, the palace of the house of Minos. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. vii + 373. Dust Jacket intact with flaps, but lacking spine & fairly worn, now in archive acetate film protection. Extensive ink-written notes to front end-paper. Gilt titles spine. Includes select bibliography. / Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 500 grams. Category: Fiction; Historical Fiction; Ancient Greece; Novels; Myths, Legends & Folklore. Inventory No: 5108. .
Synopsis
The King Must Die is a 1958 Bildungsroman and historical novel by Mary Renault that traces the early life and adventures of Theseus, a hero in Greek mythology. Naturally, it is set in Ancient Greece: Troizen, Corinth, Eleusis, Athens, Knossos in Crete, and Naxos. Rather than retelling the myth, Renault constructs an archaeologically plausible story that might have developed into the myth.
Reviews
On May 3 2012, Wideangle_2000 said:
I first read the sequel to this book, and couldn't rest until I found the first one. It was more than worth the wait. Ms. Renault's vivid descriptive ability literally makes this book come to life. The characters are so real you can almost believe you know them personally and the tale is completely captivating. It blends a mythological story with pertinent known facts and creates a tale which could easily have been based on truth. Theseus is grown from a child to a young man with all his larger than life qualities and adventures in ancient Greece, with pathos and understanding. You will never want it to end. Beautiful! I have probably re-read it 40 or more times, and would recommend it to anyone without reservation.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Bookbarrow
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5108
- Title
- The King Must Die
- Author
- Mary Renault
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover (Original Blue Cloth)
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good Condition
- Jacket Condition
- Poor
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1958
- Keywords
- BZDB227 Fiction/Historical Fiction/Novels/Myths, Legends & Folklore/Ancient Greece/Theseus Fiction; Historical Fiction; Ancient Greece; Novels; Myths, Legends & Folklore. Unbranded Mary Renault The King Must Die
Terms of Sale
Bookbarrow
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Bookbarrow
Biblio member since 2014
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
About Bookbarrow
Private Premises by appointment only and various book fairs (see websites of "P.B.F.A." and "Missing Books" for details).
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Flap(s)
- The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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