Shakespeare's Stories of the English Middle Ages

About the Book

Dynastic turmoil in 15th Century England? No thanks! For many people Shakespeare's histories rank a distant third behind his tragedies and comedies. Obscure lords and long-forgotten battles. So the image goes. Yet some of these same plays tell superb stories, and contain scenes and characters that are among the liveliest and most memorable in all literature.

Here, four of the very best, Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth Parts One and Two, and Henry the Fifth are presented as 'productions for the page'-consecutive stories for the modern reader. Be bemused no longer by endless kings, dukes and earls, acting out their arguments in iambic verse. Follow instead, as if in the midst of events, Shakespeare's masterly unfolding of a classic pattern of revolution, suppression of enemies, and conquest abroad.

About the Author

Peter Whisson was born and brought up at Ashford, Kent, in England. His earliest interest in Shakespeare came from acting in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Later he studied literature at the University of Liverpool. Since 1988 he has been teaching at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.