Leonato, a kindly, respectable nobleman, lives in the idyllic Italian town of Messina. Leonato shares his house with his lovely young daughter, Hero, his playful, clever niece, Beatrice, and his elderly brother, Antonio. -- from Sparknotes.

Contents: King John; Richard the Second; Henry the Fourth, Part 1; Henry the Fourth, Part 2; Henry the Fifth; Henry the Sixth, Part 1; Henry the Sixth, Part 2; Henry the Sixth, Part 3; Richard the Third; Henry the Eighth. Edited, with an introduction to each play and a glossary, by Peter Alexander. Introduction by James G. McManaway, with illustrations by John Farleigh. Collector's edition, bound in genuine leather. Shelved in the "Classics" section....

It is part of Shakespeare's extraordinary contribution to our culture that, through his dramas based on English history, he played a unique part in forming our view of ourselves and our nationhood. From King John, in which through Magna Carta the king's absolute power was first limited and the people's freedoms assured, to--almost in his own lifetime--Henry VIII, Shakespeare wrote a series of ten plays portraying the course of history. It represents...

"In sixteenth-century England many loyal subjects to the crown were asked to make a terrible choice: serve their monarch or their God. The schism between the Crown and the Catholic Church had widened from a theological dispute in the reign of Henry VIII to bitter political conflict under Elizabeth I. It was also the era of the greatest creative genius the world has ever known: William Shakespeare. How, then, was it possible that such a remarkable...

"Romeo and Juliet, each from an Italian family that despises the other, desperately try to be together in their rash and youthful love, with tragic results"--

The taming of the shrew: "Shakespeare's The taming of the shrew tells the tale of the sharp-tongued Kate, who must marry before her younger sister, Bianca, is allowed to find a suitor. Undaunted by her waspish reputation Petruchio attempts to woo the not-so-fair maiden, but is faced with a tirade of poisonous insults"--Container Twelfth night: "One of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, Twelfth Night was 'blissfully reborn' (The Daily Telegraph) for...