William Shakespeare 
Henry VIII 

Henry VIII – William Shakespeare – King Henry VIII has one of the fullest theatrical histories of any play in the Shakespeare canon, yet has been consistently misrepresented, both in performance and in criticism. This edition offers a new perspective on this ironic, multi-layered, collaborative play, revealing it as a complex meditation on the progress of Reformation which sees English life since Henry VIII’s day as a series of bewildering changes in national and personal allegiance and represents 'history’ as the product of varied and contradictory testimony. Mc Mullan makes a powerful claim for the rehabilitation of Henry VIII, providing the fullest performance history of any edition to date and reading the work not as a marginal 'late’ Shakespeare play but as a play which is paradigmatic of the achievement of Renaissance drama as a whole.`This is a staggeringly brilliant, captivating edition that will undoubtedly occasion a huge surge of critical interest in this neglected play. For those of use who have never taken Henry VIII very seriously ’ perhaps dismissing it as a late collaborative play of no consequence or as conservative propaganda ’ Mc Mullan’s introduction is genuinely revelatory.’Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada at Reno, Shakespeare Survey

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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He was born on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. His father was a successful local businessman and his mother was the daughter of a landowner. Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist.He is often called England’s national poet and nicknamed the Bard of Avon. He wrote about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, of which the authorship of some is uncertain. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.