he Sword in the Stone was a favourite of mine. It all comes down to character. Wart is such a wonderful character and re-imagining of King Arthur as a child. The detail in the magic, again, made me laugh so much. The wonderful spelling match Merlin has with Madam Mim, the knights in armour not being able to move because their armour is so heavy – it’s exquisitely observed.

White also wrote The Goshawk – a book about his attempts to train a wild goshawk – and his knowledge of falconry really comes through in the scenes with Wart and the hawk. In fact, H is for Hawk (2014) by Helen MacDonald is partly inspired by White and his relationship with his hawk. White knew his stuff. He knew his period and this comes through in the books.