Henry VI

William Shakespeare’s acclaimed trilogy of historical plays, collected in one volume—featuring thought-provoking essays, comprehensive bibliographies, archival photographs, and more!

“A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare’s extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever.”—James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599

“A feast of literary and historical information.”—The Wall Street Journal

Displaying the bold vision and growing skill of a young playwright, these are William Shakespeare’s first three history plays, covering some sixty tumultuous years of English history. Their pageantry, violence, and stirring speeches excite audiences with action as well as character, and midway through the final play in this trilogy, a shocking, clever, inimitably evil new voice is heard—that of Richard of Gloucester, destined to become England’s most fearsome and hated ruler of all time, Richard III.

This edition includes:
• photographs from New York Shakespeare Festival productions
• vivid, readable introductions for each play by noted scholar David Bevington
• a lively, personal foreword by Joseph Papp
• an insightful essay on the play in performance
• modern spelling and punctuation
• comprehensive source material and scholarship for each play, with notes
• up-to-date, annotated bibliographies
• a convenient listing of key passages