“ Canterbury: The courses of his use promised it not… Ely: We are blessed in the change “ (Act I Scene I) Henry V is the final play in Shakespeare’s tetralogy, a series of four plays that chronicles the rise of the house of Lancaster to the British throne. The future King Henry V, known then in Henry IV parts 1&2 as Prince Hal, is a young rogue, who occupies the majority of his time causing grief with his lowlife friends, Falstaff and Bardolph being two of his closest. Yet following a final plea from his father (King Henry IV) at his deathbed, Prince Hal vows to be a responsible king. Upon his father’s death, Hal is ...  Read the complete review

I don't think I ever really believed that I would read Shakespeare for fun. I always thought that I would only ever trawl through him to find material with which to pass exams. But I was wrong. I do read Shakespeare for fun - and I read *Henry IV* for fun more than most. But before we go any further, a word of congratulation to Dooyoo. Nice one, Dooyoo! Unlike the Stationer's Register or the First Folio you invite us to think of Henry IV as a single play. And that's right. I don't think that you can really think of the two parts as fundamentally separate. So, if *Henry IV Part 1* is your set text for a forthcoming exam, hard luck! You should ...  Read the complete review