Kingdom of Summer Narrated by Gwalchmai's servant, a man named Rhys, Kingdom of Summer (1981) continues many of Bradshaw's social concerns and themes but also introduces others. The negative scrutiny of war is still of major importance as is the reevaluation of conventional notions of heroism. A simple country man, Rhys much prefers his farm and fields to the glories of battle, and when he marries, the joys of family life conflict with his inescapable involvement with conflicts remote from his daily life.

Further protests against the senselessness of war come from a new character, Elidan, a nun whom Gwalchmai has dishonored and who has borne him a son, without his knowledge. Elidan speaks out against the knights of the Arthurian family, whom she regards as hypocrites who betray the ideals they so aggressively assert. When she bore her son, she determined that he would become a...