A young man named Prosper relates the long preparations for glorious battle and the idealistic heroism of 300 warriors and their shieldbearers who train in 600 C.E. near what is now Edinburgh for confrontations with the invading Saxons. Readers discover what these brave men did not live to know, i.e., their leaders understood from the outset that few would survive the extensive raid. This compelling historical fiction is based upon "The Gododdin," the early North British epic poem by Aneirin. Sutcliff's mastery of historical events and her skill at interweaving imagined sensory details with the human elements of comradeship and treachery result in a novel to read and discuss from several perspectives. (Age 12 and older)

'I saw riders with black eyesockets in glimmering mail where their faces should have been, grey wolfskins catching a bloom of light from the mist and the moon; a shining company indeed, not quite mortal-seeming.' Many years after King Arthur defeated the Saxons, the tribes of Britain are again threatened by invaders. Prosper and his loyal bondsman, Conn, answer the call of King Mynydogg to join a highly skilled army - the Shining Company. Led by the gallant Prince Gorthyrn, the company embark on a perilous but glorious campaign. An epic tale of battles and bravery from the acclaimed historical storyteller, Rosemary Sutcliff.