By the time depicted in this play, Henry has turned into the greatest of English kings. Though he has retained the common touch and sense of humor he showed as Falstaff's bosom buddy in the two parts of Henry IV, he has become fiercely focused. He punishes those who have plotted against him; in battle against the French, he shows himself an indomitable leader of men; and, at the end, he conquers even the heart of Catherine, the beautiful

One of the most popular of all Shakespeare's history plays, Henry IV, Part I re-creates actual events from early-15th-century English history as King Henry deals a rebellion inside with his kingdom led by Harry Percy ("Hotspur") and other notables. Besides this mutinous action, the king must also contend with the dissolute ways of his son, Prince Hal, who spends much of his time in the company of the witty, rotund, tavern-haunting Sir John

Gogol's stories are admired for their skillful mingling of fantasy and reality, quiet good humor and use of mundane details—as Gogol put it—"to extract the extraordinary from the ordinary." Imaginative and timeless, they remain as fresh and significant today as they were to readers generations ago.

This rich selection of four short stories by the great 19th-century Russian author of Dead Souls includes "The Nose," a savage satire