Through the course of a 20-year investigation, Graham Phillips has uncovered evidence that the famous story of Merlin was based on the life of an actual historical figure: the son of a Roman consul who became the last of the Romans to rule Britain in the fifth century AD. According to legend, Merlin ended his life on the mystical island of Avalon. A 1,500-year-old saga tells how Merlin left Britain on a boat bound for a mysterious island to the west. The places described in Merlin’s voyage, Phillips argues, would only have been seen by someone who had journeyed to the New World. For example, the island where boiling fountains bubble from the ground could be the geysers of Iceland, and the island with rivers of ice, the glaciers of Greenland. During his research Phillips discovered that a site believed to be Merlin’s grave was found by the first British settlers in North America: a secret location said to have been preserved in the works of William Shakespeare and the coded writings of the Freemasons. Phillips follows a trail of historical clues that leads ultimately to a mysterious New England tomb. Includes a 16-page color section.

MERLIN & THE DISCOVERY OF AVALON IN THE NEW WORLD By Graham Phillips. 256 pages. 6x9 Paperback. Illustrated. Color Section. References.