Thomas Nashe

'No, no, I am but shadow of myself...' Henry VI, Part I paints a vivid picture of political ambition, civil unrest, and war. One of Shakespeare's most collaborative plays, it was a theatrical hit when it was first performed in 1592. Scenes alternate between conflict at home and on foreign soil: between the growing civil dissention that would lead to the Wars of the Roses and the battles of the Hundred Years' War over England's claim to the French throne. It is an action-packed play, but one that offers a profound meditation on individual sacrifice and heroism, corruption, and the costs of conflict. Amy Lidster's introduction examines the play's historical, political, and theatrical contexts, offering a compelling analysis of the affective potential of theatre, language, and narrative to effect political change and shape our understanding of the history that it dramatizes. The introduction explores the play's use of sources, its position within a trilogy of plays about the reign of Henry VI, and its prominent but conflicted representation of France's defender, Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc). The introduction offers a fresh analysis of the vibrant theatrical repertory into which the play emerged — one that was marked by politically invested drama that staged diverse, transnational histories. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'...dreaming of bears, or fire, or water...' The greatest of Elizabethan pamphleteers, Nashe had a magical ability with words, never more so than in The Terrors of the Night, where he mulls over ghosts, demons, nightmares and the supernatural. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Thomas Nashe (1567-?1601). Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller and Other Works is available in Penguin Classics.

Written in the late sixteenth century, at the pinnacle of the English Renaissance, the rich and ingenious works of Thomas Nashe uniquely reveal the ambivant nature of the Elizabethan era. Mingling the devout and the bawdy, scholarship and slang, they express throughout an irrepressible, inexhaustible wit and an astonishing command of language. This collection of Nashe's finest works includes The Unfortunate Traveller, the sharp and grotesque tale of Jack Wilton, an Englishman travelling through Europe; Pierce Penniless, a biting satire on the society of his age; Terrors of the Night; Lenten Stuff; the sensual poem The Choice of Valentines; and extracts from Christ's Tears over Jerusalem and other works. Wide-ranging in subject, all capture the unique voice and fantastic ingenuity of one of the most entertaining Elizabethan writers - a man regarded by his contemporaries as the 'English Juvenal'.