This is the first comprehensive study of Tudor drama that sees the long 16th century from the accession of Henry Tudor to the death of Elizabeth as a whole, taking in the numinous drama of the 'Mystery Plays' and the early work of Shakespeare. It is an invaluable account of current scholarship and an introduction to the complexity of Tudor drama.

A new, transformative history – in Tudor times there were Black people living and working in Britain, and they were free ‘This is history on the cutting edge of archival research, but accessibly written and alive with human details and warmth.’ David Olusoga, author of Black and British: A Forgotten History A black porter publicly whips a white Englishman in the hall of a Gloucestershire manor house. A Moroccan woman is baptised in a London church. Henry VIII dispatches a Mauritanian diver to salvage lost treasures from the Mary Rose. From long-forgotten records emerge the remarkable stories of Africans who lived free in Tudor England… They were present at some of the defining moments of the age. They were christened, married and buried by the Church. They were paid wages like any other Tudors. The untold stories of the Black Tudors, dazzlingly brought to life by Kaufmann, will transform how we see this most intriguing period of history. *** Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2018 A Book of the Year for the Evening Standard and the Observer ‘That rare thing: a book about the 16th century that said something new.’ Evening Standard, Books of the Year ‘Splendid… a cracking contribution to the field.’ Dan Jones, Sunday Times ‘Consistently fascinating, historically invaluable… the narrative is pacy... Anyone reading it will never look at Tudor England in the same light again.’ Daily Mail

Reading Drama in Tudor England is about the print invention of drama as a category of text designed for readerly consumption. Arguing that plays were made legible by the printed paratexts that accompanied them, it shows that by the middle of the sixteenth century it was possible to market a play for leisure-time reading. Offering a detailed analysis of such features as title-pages, character lists, and other paratextual front matter, it suggests that even before the establishment of successful permanent playhouses, playbooks adopted recognisable conventions that not only announced their categorical status and genre but also suggested appropriate forms of use. As well as a survey of implied reading practices, this study is also about the historical owners and readers of plays. Examining the marks of use that survive in copies of early printed plays, it explores the habits of compilation and annotation that reflect the striking and often unpredictable uses to which early owners subjected their playbooks.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • For the first time in decades comes a fresh look at the fabled Tudor dynasty, comprising some of the most enigmatic figures ever to rule a country. “A thoroughly readable and often compelling narrative . . . Five centuries have not diminished the appetite for all things Tudor.”—Associated Press In 1485, young Henry Tudor, whose claim to the throne was so weak as to be almost laughable, crossed the English Channel from France at the head of a ragtag little army and took the crown from the family that had ruled England for almost four hundred years. Half a century later his son, Henry VIII, desperate to rid himself of his first wife in order to marry a second, launched a reign of terror aimed at taking powers no previous monarch had even dreamed of possessing. In the process he plunged his kingdom into generations of division and disorder, creating a legacy of blood and betrayal that would blight the lives of his children and the destiny of his country. The boy king Edward VI, a fervent believer in reforming the English church, died before bringing to fruition his dream of a second English Reformation. Mary I, the disgraced daughter of Catherine of Aragon, tried and failed to reestablish the Catholic Church and produce an heir. And finally came Elizabeth I, who devoted her life to creating an image of herself as Gloriana the Virgin Queen but, behind that mask, sacrificed all chance of personal happiness in order to survive. The Tudors weaves together all the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes, that reveal the Tudor era to be, in its enthralling, notorious truth, as momentous and as fascinating as the fictions audiences have come to love. Praise for The Tudors “A rich and vibrant tapestry.”—The Star-Ledger “A thoroughly readable and often compelling narrative . . . Five centuries have not diminished the appetite for all things Tudor.”—Associated Press “Energetic and comprehensive . . . [a] sweeping history of the gloriously infamous Tudor era . . . Unlike the somewhat ponderous British biographies of the Henrys, Elizabeths, and Boleyns that seem to pop up perennially, The Tudors displays flashy, fresh irreverence [and cuts] to the quick of the action.”—Kirkus Reviews “[A] cheeky, nuanced, and authoritative perspective . . . brims with enriching background discussions.”—Publishers Weekly “[A] lively new history.”—Bloomberg

English drama between the late fifteenth century and the late sixteenth centuries is as diverse as it is engaging; this anthology brings together eighteen of the most interesting and important dramatic works from the period. The plays have been chosen to give a broad view of the drama produced in Tudor England. They testify to the eclectic tastes of sixteenth-century audiences, ranging from morality plays (Mankind, Everyman), to comedies inspired by the Roman plays of Terence and Plautus (Ralph Roister Doister), to tragedies inspired by the plays of Seneca (Gorboduc, Cambises). In later plays, morality plots rub shoulders with slapstick comic business (The Longer Thou Livest The More Fool Thou Art, The Three Ladies of London), and classical gods intervene in the affairs of England’s regions (Gallathea). While some of the plays offer pure entertainment, others have a clear political agenda. King Johan is presented as a prototype for English resistance to Rome’s Catholicism; Gorboduc’s decision to abdicate and divide his kingdom highlights the vexed question of the English succession under a childless queen. Other plays comment more obliquely on contemporary events. Play of the Four Elements reflects on England’s nascent maritime expeditions to the New World, while The Three Ladies of London comments topically on immigrant overcrowding in England’s port towns, and the dangers of England’s trade in the Mediterranean. Some plays push the boundaries of what the theatre can do in staging violence (Cambises) and questioning gender roles (Gallathea). Designed for undergraduate use, the anthology includes extensive explanatory annotations and a substantial introduction to each play; spelling and punctuation have been partially modernized in the interests of making the texts more accessible to students. In all this, the anthology follows principles similar to those developed for Christina M. Fitzgerald’s and John T. Sebastian’s Broadview Anthology of Medieval Drama; several of the plays from that anthology are also included here, while the rest have been newly edited for this volume, under the supervision of General Editor Alan Stewart.

The Tudors is an intimate, delicious, and daring drama revealing the early years of Henry VIII, an idealistic, lustful tyrant torn between bedding wives and mistresses and conquering Europe. This is not the story of the old, fat Henry you've read about in history books. At eighteen, the throne and the entire world became his. Young, sexy, and the most powerful man of his time, the king was known for his good looks and athletic prowess. He was so arrogant that he despised dealing with the consequences of his actions. King Henry executed people with little excuse, and single-handedly tore apart the Roman Catholic Church, the most powerful institution in medieval Europe. Passionate, vibrant, and scandalous, he forever altered the course of history. The Tudors, a Showtime Original Series starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, brings to life Henry's tumultuous early years in exquisite fashion. THE BOOK ALSO INCLUDES a foreward by Michael Hirst, creator and executive producer, eight pages of lush, full-color photos, detailed essays about the Tudor era and dynasty Tune into The Tudors on Showtime -- Sundays at 10pm starting April 1st