William Shakespeare (c. 26 April 1564 - 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, renowned by many as the world's greatest writer in the English Language. Among his plays are "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet", "Macbeth" to name but a few.

"Michèle Willems's edition of The First Part of King Henry the Sixth offers valuable insights into this little-known and puzzling play. Like G. L. Kittredge, on whose work this edition is based, she sees it as mainly Shakespearean. The play we are shown here is no simple exaltation of patriotic feeling, but, more tellingly, a somber and incisive account of a kingdom staggering under the effects of the death of Chivalry. Willems astutely sees an interaction of the play's two main plots that are centered around Lord Talbot and Joan of Arc. She rightly underscores the overwhelming presence in the play of ambivalence, contradiction, irony, and multiple angles of vision. Her account of the play in performance tells a similarly disillusioning story in theatrical terms. Illustrations from performance history help bring to life this underrated and fascinating historical saga." —David Bevington, University of Chicago

"This intelligent, performance-based edition should encourage both schools and theaters to pay more attention to this interesting but largely neglected play. Professor Willems' comparisons of the readily available BBC version with other productions bring the play alive, while her thorough knowledge of the play's historical background, in both England and France, adds an important dimension to the annotations." —Lois Potter, University of Delaware