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)