This book, first published by Penguin in 1988, provides an excellent introduction to the world and action of Shakespeare's history plays. Part I examines the context for Shakespeare's history plays, including the a treatment of Elizabethan cosmology and its relevance to political order. Part 2 explores the 'Ricardian' plays, under the following headings: Mirrors of our Fickle State; Hawks and Handsaws: Modes and Genres of the Plays; This Blessed Plot: Husbandry and the Garden; Passing Brave to be a King: Richard II; This Royal Throne of Kings: Henry IV, parts 1 and 2; This Sceptred Isle: Henry V; A Trim Reckoning: Language, Poetics and Rhetoric.
This title is also available as a searchable ebook from Humanities-Ebooks.co.uk and for libraries from Ebrary, EBSCO and Ingram.
"Interesting, articulate and accessible this is a very good introduction. Ideal for anyone seeking an overview of the plays."--by Tom Wright