Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1, sometimes titled 1 Henry IV, is a history play by William Shakespeare, chronicling part of the reign of King Henry IV from the battle at Homildon Hill late in 1402 to King Henry IV's victory in the Battle of Shrewsbury in mid-1403 and the political intrigues among rebellious nobles overwhelming his court. Henry IV, Part 1 also features some of Shakespeare's most memorable characters, including the rebellious noble Henry Hotspur, the incorrigible son of King Henry, Prince Hal, and his friend and partner in crime Sir John Falstaff. The second play in theHenriad, the tetralogy of plays chronicling the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, Henry IV, Part 1 it has been among Shakespeare's most popular and critically acclaimed works. This reading edition is based on the original Cambridge editions, first published for the general public in the 1860s, and contains line numberings based on those editions, omitting scholarly footnotes that detract from the easy-reading experience.