Henry VI

The Hundred Years War ends in England’s agonising defeat – but triumph for Jonathan Sumption

26 August 2023 9:00 am

England’s final, agonising defeat in the Hundred Years War brings Jonathan Sumption’s monumental history to a close. David Crane salutes 43 years of research and writing

James Delingpole is loving Ben Elton's new Shakespeare sitcom

14 May 2016 9:00 am

There’s no way of saying this without shredding the last vestiges of my critical credibility, but this new Ben Elton…

Going Dutch: Eelco Smits and Janni Goslinga of Toneelgroep Amsterdam in ‘Kings of War’

This year's must-see Shakespeare? Four hours of history in Dutch

23 April 2016 9:00 am

James Woodall talks to the Belgian director Ivo van Hove, who has brought a swathe of Shakespeare’s history plays to the stage in Dutch (four hours of it)

Shakespeare at his freest and most exuberant: The Wars of the Roses reviewed

24 October 2015 9:00 am

The RSC’s The Wars of the Roses solves a peculiar literary problem. Shakespeare’s earliest history plays are entitled Henry VI…

The way we were: Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Queen Margaret, with Donald Sinden and cast members, in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Wars of the Roses’, Stratford, 1963

Shakespeare's Wars of the Roses is being staged without a single black actor. So what?

5 September 2015 9:00 am

Trevor Nunn is staging Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses without a single black actor. So what, says Robert Gore-Langton

Henry VI did at least fulfil one function of kingship — that of ‘sacerdos’. Kneeling behind him is his uncle Henry Cardinal Beaufort, and standing (bearded) is another uncle, the ‘good Duke’ Humphrey

Britain’s own game of thrones

13 September 2014 9:00 am

Thank goodness for Game of Thrones. I think. Apparently it is inspired by the Wars of the Roses, drawing inspiration…

The repression, anger and bloodshed of our own Game of Thrones

7 June 2014 9:00 am

When I took up archery it was a relatively niche sport. Then Game of Thrones came along, and everyone wanted…