The Arden Shakespeare Third Series

More troubled and troubling than King Henry IV Part 1, the play continues the story of King Henry''s decline and Hal''s reform. Though Part 2 echoes the structure of the earlier play, it is a darker and more unsettling world, in which even Falstaff''s revelry is more tired and cynical, and the once-merry Hal sloughs off his tavern companions to become King Henry V.

James C. Bulman''s authoritative edition provides a wealth of incisive commentary on this complex history play.