A history play alternating between the high drama of court life and the earthy comedy of the Boar's Head Tavern in Eastcheap, William Shakespeare's Henry IV Part I is a masterful drama of a prodigal son rising to meet his destiny. This Penguin Shakespeare edition is edited by Peter Davison with an introduction by Charles Edelman.

'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown'

Prince Hal, the son of King Henry IV, spends his time in idle pleasure with dissolute friends, among them the roguish Sir John Falstaff. But when the kingdom is threatened by the rebellious Earls of Northumberland and Worcester, and their allies, the fiery Welsh mystic Owen Glendower and the Scottish Earl of Douglas, the prince must abandon his reckless ways. Taking arms against his opposite number, the volatile young Harry 'Hotspur' Percy, he begins a great and compelling transformation - from irresponsible reprobate to noble ruler of men.