In translating Shakespeare to comic book form Ian Pollock must interpet stage direction and consider character development as a director might. To read Shakespeare is to miss both the aural experience and the visual, and necessaraly each players interpretation of his/her role. This comic book format helps replace some of that which is lost. Pollock's interpretation is excellent, and his illustrative style captures the ugliness of Lear very well. One does long for beauty in his illustrations from time to time, but on the whole his interpretation works. What is most facinating perhaps is pollock's appeal to children. The visual ellement helps illucidate the text and make difficult scenes intelligable to children. Middle School aged children will have little difficulty understanding and being facinated by this rich and wonderful play

I am a theatre arts instructor and I feel that this book is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's plays. I feel, as do many other people in my field, that the plays of William Shakespeare are meant to be seen as opposed to read. The comic book format gives you the best of both worlds. I have given this book to students who claim not to be able to understand Shakespeare and they literally tear through this book. Very high marks as far as this Professor is concerned!!!

Meikle just gets better and better. A tour through his vast back catalogue of superb short stories followed by the scarce debut novel "Book of the Dark" and the ground breaking "Island Life" leads us to his best work yet, "Watchers: The Coming of the King". Not content with confining himself to the realms of fiction, this time Meikle takes us on a journey through the mists of time and myth, seamlessly melding his unique exploration of vampire lore with the cast iron straight jacket of fact. Armed with the skilfully drawn characters of Martin, Sean, Campbell and the Thane he begins an epic tale of the vampire involvement in the hard fought battle for the glory and valour of a long ago Scotland. "Watchers" gives the reader an immensely compelling read replete with a tantalising cliff-hanger, paving the way well for a sequel. Could it really have happened this way? Find out for yourself. In the past. In the shadows of the Glens and the Black Horde. In the thick of the battle. In the Forty-Five.

If the concept of a hoard of Royalist vampires attacking from Scotland and trying to reclaim the English crown sounds a bit corny, don't worry - it really works.

William Meikle has managed to forge a dark and compelling story by taking some exciting British history and his own brand of vampire story telling and then giving them a good mix.

The story introduces us to Martin and Sean, two soldiers of the Hadrian's Wall watch who are tasked with looking after a traveller and his daughter who arrive from the north.

Between them, their stories introduce the reader to the history of the Others and how they plan to retake the throne.

As the first part of a trilogy, it sets the scene perfectly for the remainder of the series - and I, for one, can't wait for the next book.

This book is genious! It takes history and gives it a horrific twist. Full of action, suspense and words that fill your mind with ghastley images, the first installment of 'Watchers' will keep you turning page after page.

If You are up for a great Vampire novel and hunger for something different, this is the perfect book.

~Stephanie Simpson-Woods ~ Author of 'I.M. Internet Message' and book reviewer for 'Camp Horror'.

Shakespeare portrays King Richard III as a hunchbacked thoroughly evil man. While based upon the historical Richard III, the play is a dramatization. Although classed as a history, remember that Shakespeare's histories aren't historically accurate biographies. Richard is a power-hungry brother of a king who murders, schemes, marries, and plots to usurp the throne from rightful heirs. Richard gets his due when he meets Henry Tudor on the field of battle and the reign of the Yorkist kings comes to an end. Written under the rule of a Tudor monarch (Elizabeth I), the play paints the brutal Richard in an especially unfavorable light. After all, the rise of the Tudors depended upon the death of Richard III. The treatment of women in the play has been criticized, especially the speed under which Anne accepts Richard III -- with her dead father in law in the scene, no less. The play compresses 14 years or so of real history into 5 acts. It is hard to go wrong with Shakespeare. A good but dark read.

Let's get one thing clear from the start: when I rate Shakespeare, I rate it against other Shakespeare; otherwise, the consistently high ratings would not be very informative. If I was rating this against the general run of literature available, it would unquestionably rate 5 stars.

So what brings it down to 4, as compared to other Shakespeare? Primarily a few places where it demands a bit too much suspension of disbelief; the language is some of Shakespeare's best, and is comparatively easy for a modern reader (I found most of the footnotes to be sufficiently unnecessary to be actually more distraction than help). But for one thing, if Richard is withered, hunchbacked, and deformed, how is it that he has been able to kill so many of his victims in battle? For another thing, is it REALLY plausible that Princess Anne would be persuaded as she was by someone with nothing more going for him than Richard? To paraphrase the scene,

Anne: You killed my husband and his father! I hate you I hate you I hate you!

Richard: But I only did it 'cause I'm hot for you, babe! Wanna marry me?

Anne: Welll...maybe. Let me think about it.

(And, in fact, she marries him. Just like that.)

Also, there are virtually NO characters in this play that are sympathetic, save perhaps for the two murdered children and Richmond, and we really don't see enough of them to feel much connection; it dilutes the effectiveness of the portrayal of Richard's evil when almost all of the other characters are, if not just as bad, certainly bad enough.

Richard III is the most well crafted satanic character in all of Shakespeare's writing. What can get frightening is that you see his evil, and yet you like him. The play is dramatically frightening from one scene to the next. To this day, I never could forget the scene where Hastings is sentenced to death or when Richard is haunted by the 11 ghosts. But the virtuous Henry VII also offers captivating passages (especially his passage that announces the end of the War of the Roses.) It is also interesting to see how carefully Shakespeare had to handle Henry VII, seing his granddaughter Elizabeth was in the audience. To be sure, Richard III is blamed for several things he did not do. The dramatic irony is that whatever he was innocent of, all the circumstancial evidence says he murdered his nephews.(Rumors that he killed them continued to spread like fire. Not only did he start losing England's loyalty, but many of his own followers in a rage abandoned him and joined Henry VII. France began to humiliate Richard by broadcasting official accusations and Richard never so much as denied having done it. If he could have produced the princes, his troubles would have been over.)This one vile deed made it possible for Shakespeare to make Richard this monster from hell and convincingly pile a slew of vile deeds upon him of which he was innocent. But all that aside, women such as Richard's furious mother and the raging former Queen Margaret add to the drama and chills. The gradual unfolding of Margaret's curses adds a charming orginizational bonus to this masterpiece. If you want to enjoy this play all the more, make sure you read "3 Henry VI" first. Richard's demonic nature is heavily prepared in this preceeding play.

Author Harry Rinker does a great job in bringing back the images of a forgotten hero, Hopalong Cassidy as portrayed by actor William Boyd. His book recaptures, vividly, the massive Hoppy merchandise of the 1950's when Boyd-a marketing genius- was a superstar to children the world over, including this Australian who, as a six year old during Boyd's Australian tour of 1954, was absolutely devastated that Hoppy didn't come west to WA. We got the Queen instead! This book, complete with lavish colour plates of the thousands of Hoppy items is not just a book for collectors of Cassidy memorabilia.Rinker's early chapters include the effect of Hoppy on him as a child, the evolution of Cassidy in novels films and television, the history of Boyd's visionary marketing skills and an interview with his widow, Grace, who is still alive some 28 years after her husband's death. The durability of the film and TV Hoppy (vastly different from novelist Clarence E Mulford's original character) lasted for 20 years thanks to Boyd fusing his own persona with that of the character. Boyd commenced in the Cassidy role in 1935, as a middle aged actor of 40( making 66 films as Cassidy over the next 13 years) and retired in 1954 as a TV and radio hero, internationally renowned. The transformation of Boyd into a hero of children is well captured by Rinker- albeit briefly- although a more detailed biography of William Boyd is long overdue. Boyd's morals,responsiblity,concern and many acts of kindness towards his youthful supporters, as Hoppy, was an example of the very best America had to offer-and America's best is very good indeed. That is why people who grew up in the middle of the 20th century will always recall with affection the black-garbed knight gallant of their childhood - Bill Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy.

Any medievalist will undoubtedly find William of Malmesbury's Gesta cited throughout the footnotes of other studies. This volume provides a comprehensive commentary and analysis of the Malmesbury manuscripts, equal in every respect to the high standard expected from Oxford Medieval Texts.
Be forwarned, however, that this volume contains only the commentary. Those interested in reading the excellent full-text English translation, or making their own interpretation from the Latin will require the companion Volume I, which for some reason, Amazon does not include in its catalogue listings.

... the reviews for King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare (and all their other books as far as I can tell) as if different editions have the same content - obviously in the case of classics that is far from true.

... 3 editions of Henry VIII at this time: (1) Hardback edited by Gordon McMullar published in November 2000 (2) Paperback edited by Jay L. Halio published in September 2000 (3) Paperback edited by R. A. Foakes published in February 1998

Their editorial reviews describe ALL 3 of these editions as "This is the first fully annotated modern-spelling edition of King Henry VIII to appear for over a decade and includes up-to-date scholarship on all aspects of the play, including dating authorship, printing, sources and stage history." I don't think so! The reader reviews don't distinguish the editions but they are the same reviews posted for the different books. I wish I could contribute the answer but I am still trying to figure it out -- in the meantime, purchase cautiously or you may be disappointed.

Shakespeare managed to describe the later life of King Henry the eight, with much intelligence and gracefulness. This play, written centuries before, has captured my attention unlike any present-day play or novel. King Henry VIII was based on the life of the notoriously known King Henry the eight of England. To my dismay, only two of King Henry's wives were mentioned. This play showed how King Henry's life was never truly complete: he couldn't trust anyone, he was unfaithful to the Lord, his wives and his country, and he was never blessed with a son, to be heir to his throne. For myself, the climax of the play was viewing how the king dealt with the change of wives and the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth. The play King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare is a wonderful recommendation for anyone who wishes to understand the tidings of King Henry the eight from a fictitious, historical, personal point of view, rather than from historical facts.

This was an appropriate conclusion to Shakespeare's career. Not only are the characters such as Henry VIII, Cranmer, and Wolsey convincing, but the poetry and images are beautiful. In addition, through the fall of several characters such as Wolsey, we can see reflections of Shakespeare himself as he wrote his 37th and final play. It is also poetically appropriate that one of the greatest writers England ever knew ended his career by writing a play about one of the greatest kings that England ever knew! I DO NOT believe that Shakespeare only wrote parts of this play as many people do. With the beautiful images, poetry, and captivating characters, I am very confident in the belief that this play was written entirely by the one and only William Shakespeare.

This is the best work of Shakespeare that I have read. It contains jems of wisdom, such as the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, or the sympathetic speaches of Queen Catherine. These are also events of history, not far removed from Shakespeare's own times; tragic events which ultimately reshaped the world we live in.

This book makes the study of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles much easier, since it shows the parallel passages next to each other on the same page. The pages are conveniently divided into 2 larger columns, one for the Judah, one for Israel. This method takes much of the confusion out of trying to figure out what is going on where and when, since the "overlaps" are shown side-by-side. I think such a harmony in essential to have available to the Christian community. I myself teach Sunday School and have found it indispensible. My only objection to this particular harmony is that Mr. Crockett has seen fit to rearrange the chronology in places (rather than just going straight through Samuel and Kings, incorporating Chronicles where it overlaps). His way of doing it has made it difficult for those without harmonies to follow what it going on.

Stephens is a bit much as Richard (does he have to yell so often?) but the supporting cast, with Michael York in a multitude of roles, Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret, Glenda Jackson as Lady Anne and Jeremy Brett as the Earl of Clarence (for once, the part is done right--Brett comes off as believable, not as a whiny brat as in many portrayals) is fantastic. Unabridged, as another reviewer noted, and digitally remastered, this recording is the best I've come across so far. Highly recommended!

This is a terrific version of Shakespeare's play, starring Robert Stephens as the wicked King Richard in a deliciously "over the top" performance. Audio book lovers should take heed: this is the *unabridged* play, on three cassettes and clocking in at approximately four hours! And indeed some of the more formal lamentation scenes do tend to grow tiresome (but that is a feature of the play and not the performers' fault); however, the vitality of the Richard scenes amply outweighs this. The supporting cast, including Glenda Jackson, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, and Cyril Cusack, is uniformly excellent, but top honors must go to Stephens. The recorded sound (digitally remastered from a 1967 recording) is very good. Highly recommended.

An entertaining read but more opinion than fact based. Plenty of references but even more conjecture and supposition. Was Wallace so virtuous and Edward so evil? I don't think so. A book written to support the author's point of view with very little objectivity. The writing style is at times difficult to follow with events being related out of sequence or seemingly unrelated to the points being made...this is hardly a scholarly work. There must be better books on this subject....

a nicely written synopsis that can be read on vacation and enjoyed for hitting the high points and amusingly trailing off into interesting theories and ideas.

Brief in scope but informative enough to satisfy your curiosity about this fascinating subject.

A very nice read.

Naturally with Braveheart ( and all its errors!! ) people with curiosity about one of Scotland's greatest Heroes have questions. This book goes a long way to presenting fact from fiction. Gray's work is easy to read, well balanced account of Scotland and Wallace.
Gray starts with the background and clime of Scotland before Wallace came into play. Gives you chapters on Edward Longshanks moving through Balliol being raised to King by Edward's Great Cause, and sets the stage for the rising of Wallace. He work is well thought out, just not another repeating of tales, balancing previous details put forward about Wallace with whether they were truth or not.

And excellent work for anyone wishing to learn more about Wallace.