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This new edition of Shakespeare´s great exploration of patriotism and war, developed by and for the RSC, includes new interviews with acclaimed directors Kenneth Branagh, Nicholas Hytner, Ed Hall and Michael Boyd, looks at specific productions in the play´s history, and a completely new introduction by acclaimed scholar Jonathan Bate.

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From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare´s great exploration of patriotism and war. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of Henry V in performance, takes a detailed look at specific productions, and recommends film versions. Included in this edition are interviews with four leading directors - Kenneth Branagh, Nicholas Hytner, Michael Boyd and Ed Hall - providing an illuminating insight into the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible. This edition also includes an essay on Shakespeare´s career and Elizabethan theatre, and enables the reader to understand the play as it was originally intended - as living theatre to be enjoyed and performed.
Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer a fresh, accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare´s works for the twenty-first century.

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Introduction.- About the Text.- Key Facts.- The Life of Henry the Fifth.- Textual Notes.- Synopses of the two parts of Henry IV.- Scene-by-scene Analysis.- Henry V in Performance: the RSC and Beyond.- Four Centuries of Henry V: An Overview.- At the RSC.- The Director´s Cut: Interviews with Kenneth Branagh, Nicholas Hytner, Ed Hall, Michael Boyd.- Shakespeare´s Career in the Theatre.- Shakespeare´s Works: a Chronology.- Kings and Queens of England: from the History Plays to Shakespeare´s Lifetime.- The History behind the Histories: A Chronology.- Further Reading and Viewing.- References.- Acknowledgements and Picture Credits

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JONATHAN BATE is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature, University of Warwick, UK, and the editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He has held visiting posts at Harvard, Yale and UCLA and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine´s College, Cambridge, and a Governor and Board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. A prominent critic, award-winning biographer and broadcaster, he is the author of several books on Shakespeare, including The Genius of Shakespeare (Picador), which was praised by Sir Peter Hall, founder of the RSC, as ´the best modern book on Shakespeare.´ In June 2006 he was awarded a CBE by HM The Queen ´for services to Higher Education´.

ERIC RASMUSSEN is Professor of English at the University of Nevada, USA, and the Textual Editor of The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He is co-editor of the Norton Anthology of English Renaissance Drama and has edited volumes in both the Arden Shakespeare and Oxford World´s Classics series. He is the General Textual Editor of the Internet Shakespeare Editions project - one of the most visited Shakespeare websites in the world. For over nine years he has written the annual review of editions and textual studies for the Shakespeare Survey.

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