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Summary: Someone please give this book to Bush
Review: "Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the King that led them to it."
Particularly poignant poetry in these times of pompous presidential sabre rattling and wars based on questionable facts.
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Summary: Every soldier should carry a copy.
Review: 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.' What more need I say? Henry V is an imortal classic of western literature. And this edition is complete and accurate. See the film if you want, but be sure to read the words at least once. They are inspiring.
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Summary: The best edition of "Henry V"
Review: Andrew Gurr's brilliant editing of Shakespeare's "Henry V" makes this essential to anyone seriously interested in this play. Gurr's introduction could almost stand on its own as a first rate scholarly article on the origins of Shakespeare's "Henry V" and the historical background in which the play was written. Domestic turmoil concerning the earl of Essex, threat of foreign invasion with the Spanish Armada, and foreign war in the Spanish Netherlands (where Sir Phillip Sidney met his untimely death) among other factors provide the impetus behind Shakespeare's most rhetorically soaring play. Of course the actual play itself is what would draw most readers, and Gurr's editing is brilliant. Based (I think) on the original so-called "Folio" version of Shakespeare's play, and including an easy to use page by page gloss, you could not ask for a better version of this play. Having written an honors thesis on this particular subject and having read Gurr's edition several times I can attest that this is the most useful and accessible edition of Shakespeare's finest play.
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Summary: the great king henry v
Review: Having read Henry V, I think I can sum up the plot as follows: the French insult King Harry, Harry get royally ticked-off, goes to kick some French butt, and comes home with a damned saucy wife. Right now I enjoy any play that shows a contemptuous French government getting smacked down, but this play is not numbered among Shakespeare's heavy-hitters. For one thing, King Harry is not a very interesting character. In fact, I can't stand him - he is a faithless, glorified basher of heads. Shakespeare knows this, that's why he only struts around giving rabble-rousing speeches.There is a host of other colorful characters in the play (such as Ancient Pistol) but Henry V suffers in comparison with the two parts of Henry IV because of the absence of Falstaff. Falstaff is the most interesting character in the Henriad. By this time, King Harry has treacherously banished Falstaff and he has died of a broken heart. Therefore, there is no cynical commentary in Henry V. If Falstaff had been around, he would have completely undermined King Harry's posturing. The induring legacy of the play seems to be the films made of it by Olivier and Branagh. Ironically, these are two of the best films made of Shakespeare - partially because the play is so direct and accessible. It is a short, brutal piece about war. King Harry is so good at making speeches, most readers miss Shakespeare's subtle judgement on his central character's hypocrasy.
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Summary: "...in that small most greatly lived this star of England."
Review: How does one review Shakespeare? Well, I shall try... A history buff (more specifically, a medieval history buff) I am probably the only person who enjoys Shakespeare's history plays above all others (except "Macbeth"--always excepting "Macbeth"). After that intriguing (and sly!) introduction, the action of the play dies down for a bit, until Harry arrives in France and takes it by storm. THEN the play unfurls itself into what turns out to be Shakespeare's greatest tribute to England and literature and history's greatest tribute to "that star of England," Henry V, surely one of England's greatest monarchs. The star of three plays, Harry also stands out as one of Shakespeare's most interesting and fully-realized characters. If you are familiar with the Henry IV plays, it is fascinating to discover how Harry's past adventures (and misadventures) have contributed to make him the man he proves himself to be in "Henry V." This is truly one of Shakespeare's best plays, and Harry's "Saint Crispin's Day Speech" is one of the most inspirational and well-crafted speeches in literature, I think. (Hamlet's speeches were always so convoluted!)
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Summary: Shakespeare is a damned liar!
Review: I just have to share this with everybody...
Henry was not the nice "Welshman to the core" of this play. After Agincourt, he ordered "the slaughter of all disarmed prisoners, noble or otherwise, and his foot soldiers watched, deeply shocked as two hundred archers stabbled, clubbed, or burned the captives to death." Coupled with the fact that Henry didn't smile once during his victorious progress through London...I must conclude that the historical guy was an evil hardass. The Duke of York was not stabbed to death, and did not dramatically barf blood like in the Kenneth Branagh film. "He was a big man and very overweight, and it is reported that he either suffocated to death in his armor or suffered a heart attack in the press of the fighting." So the next time you read Shakespeare, especially this play or, my favorite ahistorical pro-Lancastrian history twister, Richard III....just remember.... Shakespeare is a damned liar. :-) Thanks to Alison Weir for the information in "The Wars of the Roses".
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Summary: Shakespeare is a damned liar!
Review: I just have to share this with everybody...
Henry was not the nice "Welshman to the core" of this play. After Agincourt, he ordered "the slaughter of all disarmed prisoners, noble or otherwise, and his foot soldiers watched, deeply shocked as two hundred archers stabbled, clubbed, or burned the captives to death." Coupled with the fact that Henry didn't smile once during his victorious progress through London...I must conclude that the historical guy was an evil hardass. The Duke of York was not stabbed to death, and did not dramatically barf blood like in the Kenneth Branagh film. "He was a big man and very overweight, and it is reported that he either suffocated to death in his armor or suffered a heart attack in the press of the fighting." So the next time you read Shakespeare, especially this play or, my favorite ahistorical pro-Lancastrian history twister, Richard III....just remember.... Shakespeare is a damned liar. :-) Thanks to Alison Weir for the information in "The Wars of the Roses".
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Summary: We Few, We Happy Few
Review: I looked long and hard (and asked many a scholar) for the "perfect" Shakespeare publication that I might purchase to study "King Henry V" (for a experiential education requirement, I had undertaken the translation of Henry V into American Sign Language). The Arden Shakespeare came highly recommended by everyone, and has lived up entirely to all its rave reviews. I will never buy Shakespeare from another publisher. While these books may be slightly more expensive than a "mass market" edition, I believe that if you are going to take the time to read and understand Shakespeare, it is well worth the extra dollar or two. The Introduction, the images, and plethora of footnotes are irreplaceable and nearly neccessary for a full understanding of the play (for those of us who are not scholars already). The photocopy of the original Quatro text in the appendix is also very interesting. All in all, well worth it! I recommend that you buy ALL of Shakespeare's work from Arden's critical editions.
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Summary: A brilliant play
Review: Required to read Henry for my AP English Language class, I came into the play with a bias. I honestly felt that it would be a boring political play. I was utterly wrong! A huge fan of Shakespeare, I found Henry V to be a formidable match for the Bard's more critically acclaimed plays, such as Hamlet and Macbeth. Henry has it all! Shakespeare's attitude toward Henry the King is certainly one of admiration. By communicating the fact that an effective monarch must have a complete understanding of the common subjects (Pistol and Bardolph and Quickly), Shakespeare sets up Henry to be the ideal Christian king. The controlled language of Henry's speeches, particularly his response to the Dauphin's idiotic insult, also glorifies Henry. I certainly recommend this play to anyone, fan of Shakespeare or not.
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Summary: the great king henry v
Review: this is the last instalment in the history tetralogy that started with richard ii. it chronicles the brief but brilliant career of henry v, incl his miraculous victory at agincourt, the treaty at troyes that gave him the title of king of france, and his wooing of the lovely french princess catherine. this is the play that churchill turned to in britain's darkest hour - 'once more into the breach', 'we the few...', etc. as usual, there are many historical inaccuracies in the play. the most amusing is the death of the duke of york at agincourt. in the play, he's reported to have died valiantly in battle and is therefore hailed as a hero. in fact, he died from injuries sustained when he fell off his horse! he was a fat old man, not exactly the picture we see when we think of war heroes. the lop-sided victory at agincourt is also exaggerated. shakespeare claims that no more than 'five and twenty' died on the english side. actually, about 500 died. 7000 french were killed, however, so it was still a wildly one-sided victory.
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