Just who did the British think they were? For much of the last 1,500 years, when the British looked back to their origins they saw the looming mythological figure of Brutus of Troy. A great-great-grandson of the love goddess Aphrodite through her Trojan son Aeneas (the hero of Virgil's Aeneid), Brutus accidentally killed his father and was exiled to Greece. He liberated the descendants of the Trojans who lived there in slavery and led them on an epic voyage to Britain. Landing at Totnes in Devon, Brutus overthrew the giants who lived in Britain, laid the foundations of Oxford University and London and sired a long line of kings, including King Arthur and the ancestors of the present Royal Family. Invented to give Britain a place in the overarching mythologies of the Classical world, Brutus's story long underpinned the British identity and played a crucial role in royal propaganda and foreign policy. His story inspired generations of poets and playwrights, including Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth, Dickens and Blake, whose hymn 'Jerusalem' was a direct response to the story of Brutus founding London as the New Troy in the west. Leading genealogist Anthony Adolph traces Brutus's story from Roman times onwards, charting his immense popularity and subsequent fall from grace, along with his lasting legacy in fiction, pseudo-history and the arcane mythology surrounding some of London's best-known landmarks, in this ground-breaking biography of the mythological founder of Britain. AUTHOR: Anthony Adolph (www.anthonyadolph.co.uk) is a well-known genealogist who has made a special study of the history of aristocracy and of all the research resources that can be used to delve into this absorbing field. He is a regular contributor to the major genealogy magazines and websites, he has appeared as resident genealogist and co presenter of television and radio programmes for Channel 4 and Radio 4, and his books include 'Tracing Your Family History', 'Tracing Your Scottish Family History', 'Who Am I?' and 'The King's Henchman'. SELLING POINTS: ? Britain's history seen through its national myth ? The epic story of King Arthur's ancestor and Britannia's male counterpart ? Traces the Royal Family back to Aphrodite and Excavates previously unknown British myths Over 70 illustrations
