Shakespeare's Histories: Volume One: (King Henry IV: Part One, King Henry IV: Part Two, King Henry V)

By William Shakespeare

Book Overview

Shakespeare's Histories: Volume One
William Shakespeare (1554 - 1616)

King Henry IV, Part 1

King Henry IV, Part 1 is the second of Shakespeare's eight Wars of the Roses history plays, with events following those of King Richard II. As the play opens, King Henry IV (formerly Henry Bolingbroke) and Henry Percy (Hotspur) argue over the disposition of prisoners from the Battle of Holmedon. The King's attitude toward Mortimer and the Percy family prompts them to plot rebellion. In the meantime, his son Prince Hal is living the low life in the company of Sir John Falstaff. As the time of battle nears, Prince Hal joins his father and is given a high command. The play's climax is the Battle of Shrewsbury, in which Prince Hal and Hotspur meet and fight, with Prince Hal and the forces of the King prevailing. The action continues in King Henry IV, Part 2. From the start this has been an extremely popular play both with the public and with critics.

King Henry IV, Part 2

Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V. The play picks up where Henry IV, Part 1 left off. Its focus is on Prince Hal's journey toward kingship and his ultimate rejection of Falstaff.

King Henry V

Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1599. It tells the story of King Henry V of England, focusing on events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years' War. In the First Quarto text, it was entitled The Cronicle History of Henry the fift: which became The Life of Henry the Fifth in the First Folio text.

The play is the final part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. The original audiences would thus have already been familiar with the title character, who was depicted in the Henry IV plays as a wild, undisciplined lad known as "Prince Harry" and by Falstaff as "Hal". In Henry V, the young prince has become a mature man and embarks on a successful conquest of France.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1530466199
• ISBN13: 9781530466191
• Release Date: March 2016
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Henry V, a play by William Shakespeare.

AKA “King Henry V” on many book titles of the play. Some books are annotated, others have footnotes with translation from Shakesphere’s time to now. 30 years ago, I read the play and then let it slip from my repertoire. So now it is new again. I started with “A Brief Guide to William Shakespeare without the Boring bits” commentary by Peter Aykroyd, and then worked my way through three film versions. Now, finally, I am reading the play to see what I missed. The BBC is more complete and closer in verbiage to the original play versions. In Lawrence Olivia’s movie version, they were forced to cut out much of the play because of time constraints, and because of the time of the production, Henry V could not look like a tyrant, and they had to justify the war so it would coincide with the WWII war effort. However, Kenneth Branagh, making his directing debut, pulled out all the stops with his version of the film. He may have missed a few lines here and there, but he replaced them with visuals and innuendos. This story is based on prior works, but can stand alone very well, as what history of Henry is needed is mentioned in the play. Henry V was a sort of playboy (probably by cunning design) as a youth, and when becoming king, has decided to acquire France, which is his heritage. In the process, he must prove his ability to understand and lead people. One of his first tests is to detect treachery and remove it. The films leave out a lot of the information that makes this story complete and interesting. I must say the Kindle version helps you move along with text-to-speak; without it, you will find yourself constantly looking at the dictionary the first time through. The second time through it runs much smoother, but people look at you funning when you use terms like puissant. Two-thirds of the words came up in the online Kindle dictionary; the rest had to rely on other online dictionaries. In any event, as usual, I found many daily quotes had come from this play: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother If you do not come away with any other wisdom, remember, if you are traveling through France, keep an eye on your luggage.