Reference Books

I have found one of my dream reference books.

First, what makes the ideal one to buy? Of course they're all good for something or another. But the book has to be full of information of specific interest. That is, it's no good just buying an encyclopedia set, or an almanac on everything, but a book on mythology is good, and if it's a book about a specific mythology, that is great. But the book also has to convey information that isn't easily found elsewhere in such an easily accessible form. So this hypothetical book on, say, Greek mythology can't be simple retellings of certain myths and 200 word descriptions of each major god. It has to go through all kinds of stories, talk about all the gods and goddesses, heroes, heroines, princes, princesses, magical creatures, and villains. It has to be as detailed as it could reasonably be, even discussing different versions of certain tales.

And so I've found it. The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature. From the table of contents and introduction, it appears to be everything I would ever want from a reference guide on the subject, detailing the history and literature of Arthur from the fifth century to the twenty-first. When it retells stories, the retellings are barebones, but enough so that I can be intrigued into searching certain stories out... or not.